Who ruled the harem of the pharaohs. Ancient pharaohs of Egypt. The first pharaoh of Egypt. History, pharaohs. Territory and territorial administration

Neferteshcha of the three pharaohs

As my father Ra-Gorakhti lives, rejoicing in the sky under his name Aton, to whom it is given to live forever and ever, so my heart delights in the queen's wife and her children. May the wife of the king's great Nefertiti be allowed to grow old - she is alive forever and ever! - for this thousand years, and she would have been at the hand of the pharaoh all this time, and he would have been alive, safe and healthy!
(From the testimony of her husband to the Theban Sanhedrin)

BACKGROUND

It was 1580 BC or so in the yard. The ancestor of the XVIII dynasty, the former Theban prince Ahmose, had just expelled the Hyksos - Semitic tribes of unknown origin, who ruled Egypt for a century and a half. For Egypt, he did a good deed, but in the memory of the Hyksos he probably remained ungrateful: after all, it was they who showed the Egyptians a horse and taught them how to drive a chariot. Not remembering himself with happiness, Ahmose moved the capital to his native Thebes - the city that the Egyptians actually called Ne. (The Greeks called this city Thebes for its similarity to the city of the same name in Boeotia. After 6-7 centuries, Homer wrote about the Egyptian city: “Thebes of the Egyptians, where the greatest wealth is stored in houses, a hundred-gate city.” Although a hundred gates were never there, but Homer couldn't see them.)

In those days, almost every Egyptian city was the center of the cult of some god, although it would be more correct to say that sooner or later any sanctuary “overgrown” with a city. In Thebes, Amon was loved more than others, especially by the priests, who from their love had both a table and a house. Amon has been known since ancient times as a noteworthy careerist and has climbed to the top of the pantheon for centuries, pushing more modest gods with his elbows. In the end, this god, who is mortal either with the head of a ram, or a jackal, and occasionally a human, achieved his goal, and as soon as Ahmose founded the New Kingdom of Egypt, the priests declared Amon the supreme god of Upper and Lower Egypt. It was a clear usurpation of the other two and a half thousand gods.

The successors of Ahmose turned out to be energetic and aggressive pharaohs. It is felt that a century and a half of inactivity under the yoke of the Hyksos has hurt their national pride. They rushed to conquer everything, and only death could stop them. For example, Thutmose III, who ruled for 54 years, went to the Nubians and Libyans, took Palestine with Syria and, having defeated the Mitannian army at Karchemish, crossed the Euphrates in 1467. After that, the kings of Babylon, Assyria and the Hittites began to send tribute to Egypt, although no one asked them about it - they seemed to pay off in advance.

Thutmose's heir Amenhotep II also did not sit idly by: several times he arranged "preventive" trips to the conquered lands, occupied Ugarit and again went to the Euphrates. This Amenhotep had a bow, and I don’t know if he himself decided so or which of his associates suggested it, but one day the pharaoh announced that there was no archer in the Egyptian army stronger than him, and only he himself could pull his bow. Later, this bow was found next to his mummy: the robbers did not covet this treasure.

In general, unbridled boasting was the favorite hobby of the pharaohs. In the inscriptions, they managed to win even where they could hardly take their feet. Here is a typical example of the arrogance of that era, although there is some truth in it:

The leaders of Mitanni came to him (Amenhotep II) with a tribute on their backs to pray to the king for granting them the sweet breath of life... This country, which did not know Egypt before, is now pleading with a good god.”

According to the inscriptions, from each campaign (and only Thutmose III made seventeen of them against Syria alone), the pharaohs brought tens and even hundreds of thousands of prisoners. Adding these data and adding speculative numbers from the monuments that have not come down to us, it is easy to make sure that the pharaohs enslaved more people than then lived on earth, including the American natives. The priests of Amon, of course, were engaged in postscripts, but it was not flattery that moved them. They actively pursued the idea that it was not the pharaoh and the troops who won the victory, but the god Amon. In this way they scored political points, snatched off a good chunk of trophies and increasingly forced the pharaoh to act on his orders. So that the pharaoh had nowhere to retreat, the priests declared him the son of Amun, although he, in the old fashion, continued to consider himself the son of Ra - the sun of both horizons, whose cult was more ancient and went to the city of Heliopolis (He). Without arguing with him, the priests compromised and identified Amun with Ra. The result was a god named Amon-Ra. After that, their power and income increased greatly.

The successor of Amenhotep II - Thutmose IV - did not really like such things, so in his homeland he restored the cult of Ra in its previous form, but he was afraid to go out to a fair fight with the priests of Amon. He did them another nasty thing: he did nothing significant to expand the possessions of Egypt, because of this the priests lost some weight, but so far they were silent.

The next pharaoh - Amenhotep III - also did not have much love for the priests of Amon, but suffered, out of necessity, to die in his bed. In the tenth year of his reign, he transferred the cult of Aten to Thebes and organized festivals in his honor at Karnak. Aton (Yot) is the "Solar disk", one of the incarnations of the god Ra. The cult of Aten, thus, was a modification of the cult of Ra and a competitor to Amon, and at first it was only about the restoration of the rights of the “fatherly” god, whose power was trampled on by the Hyksos and the priests of Amon. However, Aten had one significant difference, which later became cornerstone major modern religions. Ra, familiar to the Egyptians, was depicted as a man, or a man with a falcon's head. But in the same way, Amun and other solar deities were sometimes depicted. Except Aten. Aton is the one whom any Egyptian could observe every day with his head up: the solar disk, the giver of blessings, stretching out to people the rays-hands that hold the symbol of life in the form of the cross “ankh” - the sun god in true, natural form. The first deity in world history that does not have the appearance of a person, animal, or some monstrous image.

It is clear that the cowardly injections of Amenhotep, with which he finished off the Theban priesthood, in addition to socio-economic and political ones, had many small, everyday reasons from the category: I will show them who is the boss in the house! (By the way, the word “pharaoh” literally means “the house (table) of the king”) The pharaoh and supporters of secular power still did not dare to go into open conflict (after all, he died under the name “Amon is pleased”), but his son was growing up, almost from the cradle he sharpened his teeth on the Theban priesthood. It was on him that the future father-in-law Nefertiti put it. But there was a problem.

In ancient Egypt, power was inherited, but through the female line. Each pharaoh had one legal wife and harem wives, respectively, and the children were divided into the children of the queen and the children of the harem. The throne was inherited by a legitimate son or “son of a harem”, but he necessarily married a half-sister from the main wife. In the minds of the Egyptians, it was the legitimate princess who married the son of Ra, who, before his death, was indicated by the “past” son of Ra, that is, the fading pharaoh. This custom proved to be very tenacious. Even in the 1st century BC. e., when Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemaic Macedonians, the famous Cleopatra was forced to marry her brothers in turn and in this way secure the right to the throne.

Amenhotep III himself was the son of Thutmose IV and a Mitannian princess from the harem. Formally, he had no right to the throne. Perhaps Thutmose did not have daughters from the queen, or they died in childhood, and then Thutmose had to make his son his co-ruler during his lifetime, bypassing the traps of matrilineal law and wanting to continue the dynasty.

Amenhotep III ruled for 39 years (1405-1367) (Egyptologists still do not have an unequivocal decision regarding the dates. Everyone considers their own chronology to be the only correct one. However, the discrepancies here are small), sitting in Thebes. He did not like military campaigns, he only agreed to build some kind of grandiose temple in order to perpetuate himself (which he succeeded in). He led the life of a sybarite, enjoying the luxury of the palace, and most of all he loved to ride with the queen on a boat called the “Radiance of the Aten”.

Meanwhile, the neighbors - Assyria and Babylon - having guessed the weakness of the pharaoh, instead of paying tribute, began to demand gold, moreover, openly and without hesitation. Amenhotep sent, buying peace for himself and his subjects with gold. Even the subservient Mitannian king demanded gold, appealing to kindred feelings:

In my brother's country, gold is like dust ... More than my father, let my brother give me and send me.

The audacity is unheard of! The king of Mitanni not only demands, but demands with home delivery. But Amenhotep decided not to argue - peace is more precious. But the empire was bursting at the seams!

Probably, already at the court of Amenhotep III, the “pacifist” idea was born to save the empire by peaceful means. They decided to introduce the cult of the Aten everywhere in order to create a single visible god for the heterogeneous subjects, replacing the local gods, and on the basis of monotheism to restrain the conquered peoples from the fourth threshold of the Nile to the Euphrates, without resorting to force. Aton, as a religious symbol accessible to general understanding, was most suitable for this role. A god named Amon, who changed heads like handkerchiefs in a runny nose, clearly would not suit the Semites and Ethiopians. However, the priests of Amon - the most powerful party in Egypt - only he suited. It remained either to forget the idea, or to fight.

Amenhotep's wife, Queen Teye, was not the pharaoh's daughter. At one time she was considered a foreigner, like her husband's mother: a representative of the Semitic peoples or a Libyan. Based on this, all the “quirks” of her son Akhenaten (Before moving to the new capital, Akhenaten was called Amenhotep IV, but we will immediately call him Akhenaten so as not to confuse the reader.) attributed to foreign maternal influence, although the name Teye is typically Egyptian (This is also not entirely correct formulation of the question.It is known, for example, that the Germans and Tatars who traveled to Muscovy adopted Russian names and nicknames already in the first generation.). The largest Egyptologist of the past, G. Maspero, suggested that Amenhotep III's marriage be seen as a romantic story: a king madly in love and a beautiful shepherdess. Until the end, he did not guess, but in some ways he was not mistaken: Teye could well be included in the category of shepherdesses. Her father was the head of the charioteers and the head of the herds of the temple of the god Ming - Yuya (in relation to us, the commander-in-chief of the air force and deputy minister of agriculture concurrently). At first they saw a Syrian prince in him, then, in pursuit of sensations, they announced that he was the biblical Joseph, but recently it became known that Yuya was a native of the Egyptian city of Akhmim.

And Teye's mother - Tuya - at one time lived in two harems (either in turn or through the night): she was the “ruler of the harem of Amon” and “the ruler of the harem of Min”. In addition, she bore the title “decoration of the king”, suspicious from all points of view. Perhaps this fact allowed Amenhotep III to take Teye as his wife, that is, he certainly broke the tradition and at the same time, as it were, not unconditionally. However, he violated another tradition for sure, when in official documents, after his name, he began to indicate the name of his wife. Before him, the pharaohs hid such manifestations of feelings for their beloved wives (Amenhotep idolized Teye so much that he ordered her to be revered as a deity in a personal temple. True, this temple was located at the third thresholds of the Nile.).

From our point of view, it is completely incomprehensible that he found attractive in Thay. With her sculptural portrait, three-quarters consisting of lush hair from someone else's head, it is quite possible to frighten children before going to bed, and if you remove the wig, then in the morning. How beautiful is the famous bust of Nefertiti (although this is only a test preparation), how unpleasant (with the correct, in general, features) the face of the mother-in-law.

But Amenhotep himself was a good man. His two faces still adorn the Neva embankment, and St. Petersburg alcoholics drink with great pleasure in the company of these sphinxes, friendly patting their father-in-law Nefertiti on the cheeks. (Some even say: “Well, well, lie still.” I heard it myself.)

In the fourth year of the reign of Amenhotep, Teye bore him a son, named after his father, only under the number IV. Somewhere around this date, a little earlier or later, Nefertiti was also born.

CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENT, YOUTH

We have very few facts about this time, so sometimes you have to plunge headlong into speculation.

It is not known for sure where and when Nefertiti was born. Her parents are also unknown. But Neferiti had a sister named Benremut and nurse Gia - the wife of the noble courtier Eye (Looking ahead, let's say that Eye, already a very old man, after the death of Tutankhamun, married his widow - the third daughter of Nefertiti - and became pharaoh. First he nursed his mother, and in anticipation of insanity, he married a daughter who - quite unbelievably! - was raised by the same Tia.).

Many believe (and there are indirect grounds for this) that Nefertiti was born in the first decade of the reign of Amenhotep III in Thebes. Its origin is obscure, but hardly distinguishable. From the original version, that Akhenaten followed in his father's footsteps and married a foreign princess of Libyan or Western Asian origin. (It was even believed that she was in trouble with the fifth point.), I had to refuse, as soon as it became known that Nefertiti had been raised by an Egyptian. Of course, the heroine could only be half Egyptian (say, her mother is a foreigner from the harem), but the future queen of “all times and peoples” had a sister. And the name itself, on which the supporters of the “foreign” version of origin relied, - Beautiful came - of Egyptian origin. Similar names in Egypt were not uncommon. For example, a boy could be called Welcome, but you can’t conclude from this that he came from afar to visit!

Then came the turn of the hypothesis, according to which Nefertiti was the half-sister of Akhenaten, that is, Amenhotep III was “chosen” as her father, and as a side wife from the harem as her mother. Due to the opinion that took root among Egyptologists that the pharaohs married (by the main marriage) exclusively to sisters, this hypothesis was held for a long time, although it had no basis, except for speculative ones. Not a single inscription, not a single document calls Nefertiti “the daughter of the king”, as well as her sister. The title of Benremut in the inscriptions is “sister of the king's wife, the great Nefer-nefre-yot Nephre-et. (This is the throne name of Nefertiti - Beautiful with the beauty of Aton, the Beautiful has come.) - she is alive forever and ever!” Consequently, the sisters did not owe their birth to Amenhotep III. Nevertheless, the outward resemblance of Akhenaten and Nefertiti is striking, although one, by our standards, is a freak, and the other is a beauty. Often their images were even confused, they are still sometimes confused. More likely, the spouses were relatives, since the assumption that Nefertiti was without a family without a tribe or from a poor family should be immediately dismissed as untenable: no one would bother with her at court, and even appoint a high-ranking person as a nanny. A nod towards Moses, thrown in a basket to the will of the Nile and picked up by the princess, does not work here: firstly, this is from the realm of legends; secondly, Nefertiti would have to be thrown along with her sister; thirdly, Moses became a victim of nationalism. The Egyptians loved their own children very much, especially in a fertile country they cost nothing to their parents. There was an unwritten law to feed and raise all children. Any poor man could afford a horde of children: the hungry tenth son simply walked to the banks of the Nile and ate plenty of reeds and lotus. What is there to stutter about the pharaohs and other wealthy nobles, they bred like rabbits.

It remains to be assumed that Nefertiti and Benremuth were the daughters of a brother or half-sister of Amenhotep III and were the granddaughters of Thutmose IV, for each pharaoh left behind dozens of offspring. (Sex record holder Ramses II had 160 children). Amenhotep III himself had several sons and sixteen daughters, but Nefertiti was not mentioned among them.

However, this option cannot be denied: Nefertiti was the daughter of a certain high-ranking courtier or priest. For example, the same Eye, only not from Tia, but from another wife, it was not for nothing that he later, when Nefertiti was deified, received the title “father of god”, which characterized him as the father-in-law of the pharaoh. And if we take into account that later Aye nevertheless became a pharaoh (hence, he had at least some grounds for the throne), then the last assumption seems to be the most acceptable. It is impossible to resolve this issue without new archaeological data, although it may turn out that both versions will coincide: the pharaohs, as now, put close relatives in responsible positions.

It is likely that at the birth of Nefertiti, the name was completely different, and “Beautiful came” she only became on the throne.

Side evidence in favor of the non-royal origin of Nefertiti is the fact that immediately after the marriage of Akhenaten, Amenhotep III made his son a co-ruler, that is, he acted like Thutmose IV.

We have to operate with these conjectures because before the accession of Nefertiti nothing is heard, as if she was immediately born a queen. There is nothing surprising in this. Almost nothing is known about her husband's childhood and adolescence. A boy lived at the palace, grew sickly, spent all his free time in the garden among flowers and butterflies. (Isn’t his pacifism coming from childhood?) Young Nefertiti was also walking somewhere nearby (judging by the position of the nurse, the heroine grew up, if not in the palace, then near it and probably often went there). Thus, Nefertiti and Akhenaten met in the sandbox. It is possible that the nurses of the children were girlfriends and brought the future spouses closer together on joint walks, but this is from the category of “blind guesses”. In ancient Egypt, children were breastfed until they were three years old, after which the nurse became for the child something in between Arina Rodionovna and a governess. Tiya was an excellent (perhaps professional) nanny, Nefertiti loved her very much, otherwise after many years she would not have entrusted her daughters to her and would not have awarded her the title of “raising the divine”. (That's just who raised the children of Tia herself? Probably, the women of the harem, which was kept by her husband Aye, who himself was Akhenaten's tutor.).

And so it is tempting to sketch a series of touching pictures: little Akhenaten gives his toys to the babbling Nefertiti, knowing that by morning the personal master from the palace will make new ones; sobbing Nefertiti, surrounded by flowers and butterflies, does not know how to help her beloved friend, again beating in an epileptic seizure or again sick with a stomach, fever and similar illness; at a feast in the palace, Akhenaten and Nefertiti eat a duck for two, drink from one glass, lick each other's fingers and laugh loudly, sipping for the first time intoxicated; Akhenaten throws a dart at the hippopotamus, and the faithful Nefertiti hugs his legs with weak arms so that the restless heir does not inadvertently fall out of the boat; and, finally, the future reformer and his still girlfriend are “washed away” from the service in honor of Amun, so hated by them from the cradle.

Having “viewed” these and similar pictures, which could well have ended up in the royal tomb, if the artist had not forgotten to reproduce them, we draw a legitimate conclusion that Akhenaten Nefertiti liked it, he became attached to her, and, having matured, fell head over heels in love, and this did not cause a negative reaction from anyone in the palace, especially from the mother of Akhenaten, who herself was Parasha Zhemchugova by origin. What so seduced the stubborn creator of monotheism in the young Nefertiti? Are there really few pretty girls running around the palace and around, ready for the sake of the prince to forget for a while about the feeling of their own girlhood? The answer is very prosaic: the growing reformer fell in love like a poet (and he was a poet), it must be assumed that Nefertiti, acting on the poorly studied laws of female logic, firmly took him into circulation. How many compliments on the walls of their own tombs are not showered by her courtiers with the unconditional indulgence of Akhenaten. Oh, this Nefertiti, “sweet with her voice in the palace”, “mistress of affection”, “great with love”, “sweet with love”! For our consciousness, spoiled by sexual revolutions, such revelations would testify that Nefertiti did not refuse anyone the palace and everyone liked it, but in fact this is just undisguised flattery, characteristic of the East. Even the phrase “The wife of Tsar Nefertiti is a fairy tale in bed” Akhenaten would have taken as a compliment at his own expense.

Until the age of twenty, the sickly reformer walked around the palace in the position of an immature admirer. Perhaps he was testing a deep feeling that had settled in him. Or maybe he was afraid of losing the throne. Again, cynical pictures emerge in the imagination: an inferior heir with a stick drives away half-sisters who are eager to marry him and make him full-fledged; the dissolute old man Amenhotep III whispers in his son's ear: “Well, why do you need to make Nefertiti your main wife? - a secondary one will also come down, without hesitation, you will amuse the flesh and forget it, and then your sisters disappear, and look, they will die as girls, choose which one you like, if you want - Satamon, if you want - Baketamon, and the rest are girls - not a miss, he did it himself, if you want - marry everyone at once, they would do everything in a family way, according to the tradition of their ancestors, the official wife of the pharaoh - this is not a palm fan, it broke - threw it away, I did such a stupid thing, now the last hair on the wig tear, remember me, but it will be too late.

But the ancestor of monotheism was a hard-headed fellow and at the age of twenty-one he decided to marry. Presumably, the thin-born queen Teye and her brother Aanen, former first the priest (“the greatest of the seers”) of Ra and the second - Amon, the tutor of Akhenaten Eye and his wife - the nurse of Nefertiti - made up a block of support for the restless soul. They simply dismissed Amenhotep III as an eccentric who did not understand anything about love and life. Teye, riding with the pharaoh in a boat, ate at his baldness, advocating for her son; her brother brazenly lied to Pharaoh that the marriage was already blessed in heaven; Eye and his wife, who knew the bride and groom from the cradle, whispered on the sidelines of the palace that Ra himself had sent the future queen for the peace of the empire. It is not a shame to show such a beauty to foreign ambassadors and amuse your own eyes! Amenhotep III waved his hand

So, the wedding is played, the first passion of the reformer is quenched, Nefertiti is pregnant. No one knows yet by whom, but we know - a girl. Everyone is happy, only the old pharaoh has a headache: how to live to the thirtieth years of government, arrange a heb-sed for the people and declare the son co-ruler.

The “holiday” heb-sed, “celebrated” after thirty years of the reign and then repeated every three years, was very ancient. The first Egyptians looked at the pharaoh-leader as we look at a barometer. Harvest, offspring in the herd, successful hunting and military victories depended on the health of the leader. A decrepit old man on the throne meant drought and mass loss of people and livestock. Having waited for the “holiday”, the Egyptians killed the pharaoh and, perhaps, even ate it, rejoicing and rejoicing that at last the son was united with the heavenly father. But by the time of Amenhotep III, the heb-sed had been modernized. Now it was enough for the pharaoh to demonstrate to the people a number of athletics exercises, to do ritual gymnastics, proving his cheerful spirit, and to perform a cross. (This custom is latently alive even now. Suffice it to recall how politicians of advanced age known to us can dance, fighting for votes on the eve of the elections.), after which the priests staged the murder of the pharaoh and even buried the “killed” in a false tomb specially built for the heb-sed called the cenotaph. It is believed that most of the pyramids are just such cenotaphs.

So, having waited for the heb-sed, having done the ritual exercises and “buried” himself in the cenotaph, Amenhotep III publicly declared his son to be the pharaoh-co-ruler. But, probably, he did the exercises “for C grade”, the people did not like it, the people doubted the physical usefulness of the pharaoh. Perhaps another murmur was heard: he himself is not sitting by right, so he also dragged his son! And then the old debaucher proved his right by marrying his own daughter Satamon, that is, the Pharaoh's daughter.

Well, Nefertiti began to be called “the king’s beloved wife, beloved in whose image the lord of both lands is pleased,” that is, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt.

For some time everyone was happy: the land fed, the cattle multiplied, the subjects of the kings sat quietly, but events were already brewing in the country, comparable only to the Great October Revolution in Russia. Having gained power, Akhenaten intensively began to prepare for Egypt an epidemic of plague - the introduction of monotheism. Akhenaten really wanted everyone to think like him and act accordingly. After all, such people are much easier to manage.

SIX YEARS IN THEBES

The question “what to become?”, which torments us in childhood, for Egyptian girls was solved through four options: a dancer, a priestess, a mourner or a midwife. However, men could not provide every Egyptian woman with an eight-hour workload in their specialty, and therefore they offered them part-time the most ancient profession, which was then paid not with money (which did not exist yet), but with bracelets and rings. Men pursued midwives at inopportune times, recklessly reveled with dancers, out of piety courted priestesses and went to the heavenly father, escorted by a crowd of citizens weeping and tearing their clothes. Far from debauchery, rural women devoted most of their time to household chores and children, and in the season they helped their husbands in the field, and only sporadically, out of social necessity, likened themselves either to a mourner or a midwife. The ancient Egyptians did not suffer from feminist contagion. In addition, unlike our contemporaries, they urinated while standing (men sitting); they walked the streets barefoot, and put on shoes only in the house; having come to despair, they clutched not at the head, but at the ears; finally, many Egyptians were the most natural alcoholics, at feasts they reveled in smoke, and they had to be carried home.

Having become the wife of the pharaoh, Nefertiti no longer puzzled over whether to become a dancer or become a priestess. She had the only position - to serve the pharaoh one step ahead of the court and court ladies, to be the first wife of the state, “the mistress of all women”, the wife of the son of Ra.

Like any queen, she was given her own farm, the size of which we do not know, but it is clear that this is not six acres and not even a government dacha with an attached environmentally friendly state farm. Nefertiti’s vineyards were located in the lower reaches of the Nile (judging by the abundance of marks on the vessels, they were very solid), her herds grazed somewhere nearby, their own ships carried goods to their own warehouses, and their own treasurer and steward were always at hand in the crowd of their own servants, scribes and guards. Thus, life was established, peace and order were guaranteed, even love was enough, although the husband was very busy with religious transformations and the construction of new temples.

Akhenaten's youthful undertaking (which has already become a hereditary trait) - to change all the gods for the sun - still stung the pharaoh's epileptic brain. Now, having received real power, he went on the offensive along the entire front, not noticing the bridges burned behind him. In vain did his father try to overwhelm him, in vain did the courtiers, who had their “pluses” from polytheism, dissuade him, in vain even his beloved uncle - the second priest of Amun - proved to Akhenaten the idiocy of such an undertaking.

(Exemplary speech of Uncle Aanen in the ear of the reigning nephew:

Use your brains, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, how stupid you are! Don't the people know without you which gods are more useful to worship? It is logical to pray to the crocodile: he can eat. It is logical to bring gifts to the Nile: he will take it and dry up. Even a god with a ram's head (of which I am a priest) makes sense to respect at least for the fact that he is not of this world. But what rational grain can be found in sun worship? Didn't the sun ever rise? Or didn't sit down? Did they notice any tricks behind him? Did it throw unexpected knees in the sky? Eclipses?.. Complete nonsense! They were calculated two thousand years ago for two thousand years ahead. The sun has never failed anyone. The people will not understand you, you will remain a fool, and your name will become a household name.

But young Akhenaten did not accept logic and objections; there was only one answer:

Sun Seam. ( Another of the names of Ra and Aten.) my father, may he rejoice in heaven from my gifts!)

In the first four years of his reign, the religious oppositionist managed to quarrel four times with the Theban priesthood. Apparently, the priests came to the palace and threatened the pharaoh with heavenly punishments or promised to leave his body without burial, as they had successfully frightened Thutmose VI and Amenhotep III before. (“Party card on the table!” in the thirty-seventh - a slap next to this threat.) But it was all to no avail: Akhenaten only got angry and climbed on the rampage.

To the holy of holies - the sanctuary of Amun in Thebes (modern Karnak) - the pharaoh ordered the House of Aten to be attached to the east side in order to welcome the rise of his beloved father at dawn with a quiet song and vegetable gifts. More than a hundred colossi of Akhenaten were erected in the temple. The people were amazed looking at them: clothes, a crown, crossed arms with symbols of power (a whip and a rod) - it seems, the same as before, but the face and body! Where has it been seen that the pharaoh was depicted in its natural form, as a living and even outwardly unpleasant person?! From time immemorial, both pharaohs and gods have been shown equally beautiful, equally stylized and equally idealized. The Egyptologist A. More left us the following description of the appearance of the pharaoh: “He was a young man of medium height, fragile build, with rounded effeminate forms. The sculptors of that time left us true images of this androgyne. (A creature invented by Plato, a man and a woman at the same time. Once Zeus cut it in half, since then both halves have been looking for each other, and only those who find it are guaranteed love to the grave.), whose developed breasts, overly full hips, bulging thighs produce an ambiguous and painful impression. The head is no less peculiar: a too delicate oval of the face, obliquely set eyes, smooth outlines of a long and thin nose, a protruding lower lip, an elongated and sloping back skull, which seems too heavy for the fragile neck supporting it. (After consultations with doctors, Egyptologists decided that Akhenaten was ill with Frolich's syndrome. “People affected by this disease often show a tendency to be overweight. Their genitals remain underdeveloped and may not be visible due to fat folds (indeed, some Akhenaten's colossi are asexual) Tissue obesity is distributed differently in different cases, but fatty layers are deposited in the way that is typical for the female body: primarily in the areas of the chest, abdomen, pubis, thighs and buttocks. Akhenaten in cohabitation with his successor Smenkhkare, while others consider him a woman, and one of the pioneers of Egyptology, Mariette, saw him as a castrated prisoner from the Sudan.).

To all the bewildered questions of visitors to the House of Aton, the sculptor Bek only shrugged: “The king himself taught me,” although he knew perfectly well where the dog was buried: if Akhenaten had not changed the canon and style of images, the illiterate Egyptian would not have caught the difference between Amon and Aton. The new religion required new pictorial forms, and since the sun is now depicted not as a falcon, but in its natural form - all around, then why should the son of the sun look insincere?

Along the way, the reformer gathered a team of associates. The quick-witted ones came running on their own, feeling that Atonism was serious business, at least for the rest of their lives. The main violins at the court were played by mother Teie, tutor Eie and uncle Aanen. Vezir Rames, who served as Akhenaten's father, remained in the same position. The Theban prince Parennefer (probably a distant relative) was appointed keeper of the seal and head of all work in the House of Aten. Having led an expedition for a stone for this temple, he went to the rapids and fulfilled his task with honor. Nevertheless, among the old acquaintances who attended all the solemn holidays and official drinking parties in the palace, among the priests and scribes, it turned out to be difficult to find the necessary number of persons devoted to the idea of Aten, in other words, Akhenaten did not believe in their sincerity. And the reformer "went among the people", offering positions to small landowners and even talented artisans who were not directly connected with the Amon priesthood and the palace. A vivid example of this is May - the chief architect, the carrier of the fan to the right of the king, who said about himself like this: "I am a poor man by my father and mother, the king created me, (and earlier) I asked for bread."

Of course, among such Mai there were many scum who “believed” in the ideals of the monotheistic revolution solely for the sake of material wealth and a sense of power. So it was with all revolutions and upheavals. But who certainly cannot be reproached for insincerity is Nefertiti. Suddenly, she turned out to be almost the most ardent supporter of the Aton and his favorite. Following her husband, at sunrise and sunset, she rules the service of the sun, without detracting from her dignity next to the son of Aton. Moreover, sometimes Nefertiti serves the sun alone or with her daughter, from which it follows that the pharaoh and the queen lived separately, each in their own chambers with their own chapels, and the daughter (and then the daughters) was with Nefertiti.

Apparently, in the first six years of his reign, spent in Thebes, Akhenaten was busy developing a new religion, so we do not know if he adored Nefertiti tirelessly during this time. Those manifestations of love that have been sung for a hundred years are not on the monuments in Thebes. Everything is very strict and chaste. It can hardly be considered a manifestation of a deep feeling that Akhenaten takes Nefertiti with him when he goes to reward officials - this is etiquette. But in order to publicly caress each other, kiss, hug and cuddle - this is not yet in Thebes, there was nothing like it in the entire previous history of Egypt. Moreover, abroad, Nefertiti is accepted as a toy of the pharaoh, nothing more. Tushratta, king of Mitanni. (A country on the territory of modern Syria, in those days - on the southern outskirts of the Hittite kingdom.), In letters he sends greetings to Teya and his daughter Taduhepe, who lives in the royal harem, and about Nefertiti - not a single cuneiform badge. It can only be implied in expressions like: "And to all the other wives - warm greetings." Tushratta either knows nothing about Nefertiti (which is unlikely) or does not take her seriously.

Somehow I can’t believe that in the first years of his reign, the pharaoh did not have enough strength to publicly put his wife on the same level with himself, I can’t believe it, knowing Akhenaten’s character: narcissistic and selfish. The pharaoh could endure the slaps that Nefertiti showered on Tushratta in only one case - he never read the letters of vassal kings, so as not to be upset by requests to send gold or spy reports about the military preparations of the enemy. Absorbed by the ideological struggle for the right of the Aton to be called the main god of Egypt and the territories subject to him, Akhenaten did not want to know at all what was happening on the borders of the empire. Why distract yourself in vain? The bet was made on the Aten, as an all-unifying and all-reconciling force. If people have one god, they will have nothing to share, the mystic pharaoh reasoned. But at the same time, a god was required that would be understandable to everyone: the Egyptians, Semites, Nubians Amon with the head of a ram or Ra with the head of a falcon were definitely not suitable for this: some tribes did not see rams, while others considered the falcon to be a harmful bird. Therefore, Akhenaten chose a god that everyone understands - the sun. He also chose the appropriate appearance, which has nothing to do with anthropomorphic idols: Aten was depicted in the form of a disk, from which hand-rays emanated, bringing all kinds of benefits to people.

In the fourth year of his reign, Akhenaten received the third most sensitive stick from the priests of Amun. What exactly the priests pestered him with is unknown, but the pharaoh was seriously frightened: he already imagined poison in wine or a hired killer behind the curtain. And the "living incarnation of Ra" decided to act. In addition, he and Nefertiti had a second daughter, Maketaton.

Seeing that all life in Thebes is permeated with the cult of Amun, whom he cannot overcome in this city, Akhenaten decided to build a new capital so that he and the priests would leave each other alone. This was the most correct move, because by that time the gods had already “divided” most of Egypt, and it would be blasphemy to drive them out of their homes. Akhenaten needed a place free from the influence of any god whatsoever, and this he found - or found for him.

Having descended 300 kilometers down the Nile, Akhenaten found himself in a convenient valley surrounded by mountains and a river in an amphitheatre. On the other side, 15 kilometers away, was Hermopol - the sacred city of the god of wisdom Thoth. (The Greeks equated their Hermes with Thoth, hence the name Hermopol - the city of Hermes. In Egyptian it was called Shmun. By the way, Thebes is Ne in Egyptian, and Heliopolis is He.). Here Akhenaten decided to lay a new capital. Area of 180 sq. km around was declared the property of the Aton. The boundaries of Akhetaten - the Sky of the Aten - were marked with huge stelae. At the ceremony of founding the new Solnechnogorsk, Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Meritaton raised their hands and swore to the Aten. Akhenaten, as the main instigator, delivered a short speech, later immortalized on the border stelae and sounded in a free paraphrase like this:

May I create Akhetaten to my father Aten in this very place on the eastern side (on the left bank of the Nile), which he himself surrounded by mountains, and in no other place. And here I will offer sacrifices to the Aton. And let Nefertiti not tell me: “Here is a good place for Akhetaten in another place,” I will not listen to her. And let not any dignitary say the same thing to me in all the land of Egypt to its end. And I myself will never say: “I will throw Akhetaten here and build it in another place.” But I will create here the House of the Aten (that is, the temple) and the Palace of the Aten, and a palace for myself and a palace for my wife. And the tombs, wherever we die, let them carve them in the eastern mountains - for me, for my wife, for children and for all seven, nobles and military leaders. And if all this is not done - it is very bad.

As you can see, choosing a place for the new capital, Akhenaten frankly did not give a damn about the opinions of his wife and dignitaries, from which we can conclude that there were opinions that were different from his. But it is strange that Nefertiti generally had her own opinion, after all, she is an oriental woman and must obey. Maybe it was the seven - the highest officials - who found another place for the capital and urged Nefertiti to whisper to Akhenaten what they needed and convenient?

Historians are still arguing, falling into unacceptable extremes, did Nefertiti influence Akhenaten or did she obediently nod her head every time, a cast of which is now the pride of the Berlin Museum? Some believe that the cult of the Aton itself was inspired by Nefertiti, that Akhenaten was sitting on the throne and, like a fool-ass, repeated orders after his wife. At least that was the case for the first six years of Akhenaten's reign. It is interesting to note that during the excavations at Karnak, tens of thousands of building stones were found dating back to the first years of Akhenaten's reign. And surprisingly, the images of Nefertiti on them are found twice as often as her married husband. On one of the blocks, the fragile Nefertiti beats with a club the prisoners who are kneeling before her. The scene for Egyptian art is almost classical, but the woman appears

So for the first and only time. In other images, the queen stands alone in front of the altar, that is, she herself acts as an intermediary between God and people, although this duty belongs to only one person on earth - her husband. There are images of how Nefertiti drives a chariot, how he holds the highest symbol of power in his hand - the scepter. In the Theban temple of the Aten, her giant statues are located between the statues of Akhenaten, and after all, such an honor is supposed only for the living incarnation of God on earth! There was also an alley of sphinxes, some of which had the face of Nefertiti, and others - her husband. Finally, in some inscriptions she is called “the one who finds the Aton”, that is, she is put on the same level with her husband. Maybe we should recognize her as a pharaoh? Such cases in the history of Egypt are known. The last pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was Nitocris, and the last pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom was Nefru-sebek, and in the New Kingdom, a hundred years before Nefertiti, Hatshepsut sat on the throne. Let us recall the words of Akhenaten at the foundation of Akhetaten, which can be interpreted something like this: “I will not obey my wife! Let it be my way for once!”

However, many Egyptologists do not allow this possibility. “It would be hard to expect that next to such an autocratic and purposeful ruler any other crowned person could stand and exert a guiding influence on the course of state life,” wrote one of the largest Russian Egyptologists of this particular period, Yu. Perepyolkin. According to the assumption of others, in the mind of Akhenaten, the god Aten put forward by him - the parent of all living things - was, as it were, bisexual, therefore Akhenaten himself personified the masculine principle in him, and Nefertiti - the feminine. Hence the “privileges” of the pharaoh that extended to her. Still others believed that this happened later, in Akhetaten, while in Thebes Akhenaten considered himself the incarnation of Ra on Earth, and his wife - his wife Hathor. After all, one of the incarnations of Hathor was called precisely “The Beautiful One Came” - Nefertiti. Finally, neither Nefertiti herself nor her husband not only never beat captive enemies with clubs, they never saw prisoners in their entire lives, but they tried to keep a respectful distance from enemies or pretend that under the power of the almighty Aton, enemies simply it can not be.

But even if we assume that before moving to Akhetaten, Nefertiti really had a great influence and led Akhenaten in the ideological struggle, then as soon as the boats set sail from the pier of Thebes and the last priest of Amon disappeared from view, Akhenaten showed his wife “who is the boss in the house”. In one of the inscriptions he says:

My heart delights in the queen's wife and her children. May the wife of the king's great Nefer-nefre-Aton Nefertiti be allowed to grow old - she is alive forever and ever! .. And if she were at the hand of the pharaoh - he is alive, safe and sound! May the daughter of the king Meritaton and the daughter of the king Maketaton, her children, be allowed to grow old... if they were at the hand of the wife of the king, their mother, forever and ever!”

So, with one inscription, the pharaoh painted all the functional duties of his wife. The fate of Nefertiti is the love of her husband, the place is the family. True, she was later deified, and Akhenaten even gave her the title "lady of the earth to its ends", but this was only a forced consequence of his title - "lord of the earth to its ends".

THE SKYLINE OF ATON AND NEFERTITHI

In order to carry out his plans in childhood and distribute footcloths at the state level, Lenin had to become a communist tsar. Akhenaten was king. The power that Ilyich earned with a hump, Akhenaten received as a gift by inheritance. In addition, he did not set himself Leninist tasks: it made no sense to socialize everything in the country, which already belonged to him. True, Akhenaten treated the temples as Ilyich treated the church. This is where their similarity ends, although it is precisely this that is fundamental in both teachings - Atonism and Marxism.

Returning from reconnaissance, in which the pharaoh placed border stelae and consecrated the Sky of Aton, Akhenaten developed a vigorous activity. He was in a hurry, because his plans included the construction of two more Akhetatons: the second in Nubia, and the third - either in Palestine or in Syria. Architects, masons, sculptors, artists, artisans and workers of all stripes were summoned from all over Egypt (“refuseniks” were rounded up). Still alive, but already broken by his own impotence and idleness, Pope Amenhotep III, who turned out to be “false” (the real one is the god Aton!), looked at his son’s foolishness with reproach, but did not actively intervene. He even liked that the rebellious child would move out of the yard: after all, Akhenaten promised not to touch Amun and other gods of Egypt, his goal was only to return the triad of solar gods (Ra, Horus and Akhta), now appearing in the same guise of Aton, to their greatness shaken by Amon

Build a city in two or three years with an area of 100 square meters. km for the ancient Egyptians was not a big deal. They already had experience in building pyramids, which, even with the help of modern technology, are no faster to build. And for sure (almost according to Mayakovsky), not so much time has passed, but out of love for the pharaoh, loyal subjects are naked. (In the literal sense of the word, because they worked naked. Akhenaten and Nefertiti were themselves avid fans of nudism. In many images, they walk around the palace naked and even listen to the reports of the seven as if it were in a bathhouse. However, in the nudism of the reigning couple, apparently, a religious meaning was hidden.) Egyptian enthusiasm erected a real garden city with temples, palaces, estates, houses, official institutions, warehouses, stables, market stalls and workshops. Along the way, wells were dug, ponds were broken, channels and streets were laid, trees with earth were brought in and each was planted in a personal tub. All the work was supervised by royal architects, who are known to us by name, since the pharaoh, for their zeal, granted them their own tombs in the mountains of Akhetaten - Parennefer, May (the one who used to ask for bread), Bek, Tutu, Khatiai, Maanakhtutef.

Stone was brought to the buildings from the farthest borders of Egypt: granite from Aswan, alabaster from Khatnub, sandstone from Silsile. But since there was little time, and there were not a lot of people, most of the city was built not from stone, but from raw brick, only facing the main buildings with stone from the outside. On the go, they had to come up with new decor motifs pleasing to the Aten. As a rule, these were landscapes, of which the most remarkable is the view of awakening and jubilant nature - plants and animals welcoming the appearance of the Aten in the east. But the masters coped with the task.

In the sixth year of his reign, Akhenaten ordered the court to load ships and move to the still unfinished capital. It is unlikely that many had to leave their settled penates to their liking. For example, the same Parennefer, who managed to build himself a tomb in the necropolis of Thebes, which cost a lot. (Of course, he could not sell it, since it was painted for him.) But the pharaoh did not leave a choice. Hundreds, but rather, thousands of boats and baroques loaded the “household” of the pharaoh, state archives, things of nobles, servants, harems, and for a decade and a half disappeared from the field of view of the remaining Thebes. Those who saw off the caravans had mixed feelings. On the one hand, they were glad that the heretic would be far away, and on the other hand, they feared that it was from afar that he would give “freedom to his hands”. Finally, over the millennia, they have become accustomed to looking at the pharaoh as the guarantor of their lives and the son of God, so many suddenly felt like orphans.

Together with her court, she boarded her own gold-studded ship and Nefertiti, already pregnant with her third daughter Ankhesenpaaten, sat under a canopy depicting her in the most unthinkable situations (for example, hunting), pressed her two daughters to her and left, never to return again. .

The city with a population of 40-50 thousand people stretched for 12 kilometers, and with undeveloped wastelands for all 30. The main street of Akhetaton, on the sides of which stood the Great Temple, the palace of the pharaoh, the mansions of the priests and government institutions, ran along the Nile.

Of course, the central building of the city was the main temple - “The House of Aton in Akhetaton”, the length of which was about 800 meters. It was oriented from west to east to meet and greet the Aton. Naturally, this building did not have a roof so that Aton could stay in his house permanently. In the central part of the temple, archaeologists discovered three hundred and sixty (!) altars and quickly found an explanation for this find. The year of the Egyptians consisted of just such a number of days. (Plus five additional days that did not belong to any season, remaining "ownerless".), therefore, each altar corresponded to a certain day of the year. The number of altars had a sacred meaning, linking time and space. Every day in life, according to the religious doctrine of Akhenaten, was the one and only, and therefore it should be celebrated accordingly. Greeting together with his wife, children and priests of the Aten at dawn, Akhenaten even prepared for each day a special text of the hymn, which was never repeated. (Actually, there was a “blank”, to which some lines were added, then others were removed.), because the previous day differs from what Aton, rising from behind the Nile, brings with it. The Egyptians called this state of affairs the law of the Serpent, that is, the law of continuous change. (The ancient Greeks also had a similar doctrine, expressed by the phrase: “You cannot enter the same river even once,” because while you enter, the river will flow, and not stand still.). Saying (or singing) a hymn to the Aton, the pharaoh performed the rite of reanimation of the god so that life on earth would continue to exist. Probably, at the same time, Nefertiti shook her sistras (rattles) and sang: it is not for nothing that in many inscriptions she is called “sweet-voiced”, they say that “everyone rejoices at the sound of her voice”. In response, Aton with his hands-beams brought ankh to the nose of Akhenaten and Nefertiti - a symbol of life.

In Akhetaten there were also temples - “Seeing the Aten to rest” and “The Palace of the Aten in Akhetaten” and three sanctuaries, equally called “Shadow of Ra” and belonging to the women of the royal family: Nefertiti, her daughter Meritaten and Akhenaten’s mother Teye. With the exception of the “Palace of the Aten”, none of these sacred buildings has yet been found. And regarding the cult life of the Akhetatonians, it remains only to add that in every house, even the very last poor man, there was a chapel. At the same time, despite the “impatience” of the Aton of other gods, which was widely disseminated by historians, many chapels were dedicated to Amun, Isis or Bes.

Like any city built suddenly by the will of one person, Akhetaten did not have a historically established center. It was a separate closed quarters in which people of a certain profession lived. That is why, for example, after excavations of the sculptors' quarter, there is practically no hope that monuments equal in value to the bust of Nefertiti will be discovered. Interestingly, when planning the city, social differentiation was already laid in it: merchants, petty officials and artisans lived in the northern part, while high-ranking officials and sculptors lived in the south.

The main decoration of the city (besides the temples) were three palaces. Two of them - the Northern Palace and Maru-Aton (Southern Palace) - were of an entertainment and country character and were located on the outskirts of the Aton Sky. Between them in the very center of the city, adjoining the “House of the Aten in Akhetaten”, was the Great Palace. It was a magnificent building 262 meters long, divided by the main road into two parts: the official and private apartments of the pharaoh's family. Between themselves, they were connected by a covered brick bridge, in which there were three spans (which gave it the appearance of modern triumphal arches): chariots and wagons passed through the wide central one, the side ones were reserved for pedestrians. On the second floor of the covered passage there was a “window of phenomena”. From it, on holidays, the reigning couple appeared before the people and the army, which awarded especially distinguished subjects with gold ornaments. Naturally, the official part of the palace was larger and better decorated, but little remains of it. But in the private apartments of Akhenaten Amenhotepovich and his wife, archaeologists managed to identify a room that was almost certainly Nefertiti's bedroom, since there were six more smaller bedrooms nearby - according to the number of the queen's daughters. The “booty” from Nefertiti’s bedroom turned out to be not so rich: in the front, archaeologists found an image of the royal family, and in the bedroom itself, a washbasin and a stone slab-couch from which a drain ran. Did Nefertiti bathe in bed!?

The dwellings of the highest dignitaries were estates, surrounded on all sides by a fence and a garden, in which a pond and a gazebo were always present. The area of the dwelling itself exceeded 500 square meters. meters. Above the entrance to the estate, the name, titles of the owner and prayers to Aton were carved. Then the hieroglyphs were filled with blue paste, which created an extraordinary harmony with the yellow limestone. These inscriptions were sometimes altered, and from them one can trace the career of an official or his disgrace. Many government nouveaux riches came from the poorest strata, these are those "to whom he (Akhenaton) allowed to develop." The name of one official even translates as "I was created by Akhenaten." Linguists have noticed that the classical Egyptian language in Akhetaten is greatly diluted with vernacular, neologisms appear in it. Nevertheless, the good king knew how, when required, to show severity. Such a fate, for example, befell the already mentioned May. We do not know what offense or betrayal he committed, but his name was erased from everywhere, and the images in the tomb were covered with a thick layer of plaster.

The poorest strata lived in houses with an area of 80 square meters. meters. Such was poverty in Akhetaten!

Finally, another part of the city was the necropolis, three groups of tombs located in the eastern spurs of the mountains. From here come the most impressive reliefs depicting the royal couple and their relatives: each dignitary considered it necessary to emphasize his loyalty in this way. It was these reliefs that told us about the private life of Nefertiti. The relief from the royal tomb depicts sobbing Nefertiti and Akhenaten: they mourn their second daughter Maketaton, who left the world untimely. One of the leading Russian art critics-Egyptologists, M. Mathieu, could not even resist saying: “The scene of the death of Maketaton surpasses everything that was created both before and after it in terms of the strength of the conveyed feelings; we will not find such images of suffering parents anywhere.” It is difficult for us to judge, but there is an opinion and circumstantial evidence that it was after this death that everything in Akhenaten's house went awry.

In such a city, Nefertiti had to meet maturity, perhaps old age and die.

Actually, Akhenaten never intended to introduce monotheism among the Egyptians and subject peoples. His thought was much simpler. He tried to project the structure of his own empire onto the sky. Just as there is a pharaoh on earth and their own kings sit in subject countries, the Aten reigns in the sky in the same way, and other gods who recognize the supremacy of the Aten may well exist “on the ground”.

economic function

This function was the main one for the pharaoh. The prosperity of the country is the basis of prosperity. If the population is satisfied with its ruler, then there is peace and tranquility in the state.

Egypt is the gift of the Nile. Throughout the entire period of the existence of the country, irrigated agriculture was the main branch of agriculture. Therefore, concern for the expansion and preservation of irrigation canals was important and obligatory for the king. Pharaoh had to deal with the organization of labor-intensive irrigation work. King Ramesses IV, informing all the inhabitants of Egypt about his good deeds during his reign, calls on the people to follow the orders and orders of his son and successor: "Do all sorts of work for him! Drag monuments for him! Dig canals for him! Do work for him with your hands! ". Digging channels the king ranked among the largest public works.

Kings often speak in the annals of their participation in drawing up the plan of the temple, or of their presence at the ceremonial laying of some important object (be it the temple of a deity, the pharaoh's own tomb, or some kind of administrative building). The pharaoh is not only obliged to be present during the opening, but also to personally lay the first stone of the future building. Ramesses IV wanted to erect a monument to his ancestors and temples to the gods of Egypt. He began his work by studying documents from the books of the "house of life" about the best ways to the "mountain of behena", in the subsequent examination of which he took a personal part. The position of Ramses II did not allow him to leave the banks of the Nile. So he simply learned how to get water in the Icaita desert while staying in his palace at Hut-ka-ptah (i.e., Memphis).

In addition, the king had to be not only a builder, but also a plowman. When the star Sirius appeared in the east, the agricultural season began in Egypt. The pharaoh made the first ritual furrow on the field. During the harvest, the first sheaf - "bedet" - was also cut by the head of state. According to the worldview of the Egyptians of that time, this is necessary in order for the gods to bless the work.

Pharaoh delved into all sorts of technical problems. He constantly received his ministers and engineers to discuss the needs of the country, especially the conservation of water supplies and the expansion of the irrigation system.

There is a scene depicting the king inspecting a public building together with the chief architect, the vizier. The chief architect sent plans for the arrangement of the royal estates, and we see the monarch discussing with him the question of digging a lake 2000 feet long in one of them.

At the end of his work in the royal offices, the monarch went on a stretcher, accompanied by a vizier and retinue, to inspect his buildings and public works, and his hand made itself felt in all the most important affairs of the country. The king visited quarries and mines in the desert and inspected the roads, looking for suitable places for wells and stations. So, the pharaoh Seti took care of the water for gold seekers in the area east of Edfu. This question worried him so much that he personally came to the place to see what was being done for the thirsty people who worked under the scorching sun. This is evidenced by one of the inscriptions of the temple.

The XII dynasty pharaoh Senusret I conquered Nubia and forced the tribal leaders to develop mines in the east. Ameni, the ruler of the Antelope nome, was sent with a detachment of 400 people for the extracted gold. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the pharaoh sent a young prince, the future Amenemhat II, with Amen to get acquainted with his country.

Many pharaohs certainly took their duties very seriously. The claims of the litigating heirs passed directly through the pharaoh. All the lands granted by the pharaoh were transferred on the basis of royal decrees entered into the "royal writings" in the offices of the vizier. The pharaoh read many tedious scrolls of state papers and dictated dispatches to the chiefs of work in the Sinai Peninsula, in Nubia and Punt, on the southern coast of the Red Sea. Also, the king received urgent reports daily and was aware of all events. He dictated answers, and, if necessary, convened his advisers. The phrase: "We came to report to His Majesty ..." - the inscriptions on many official steles begin. As we can see, the pharaoh was a very busy person.

Political-administrative function

The high position occupied by the pharaoh marked his active participation in the affairs of government. He used to receive every morning the vizier, who plays the main role in the administration, to consult with him about the needs of the country and the current affairs that were subject to his consideration. After the meeting with the vizier, he met with the chief treasurer. These two people were in charge of the most important departments of administration: the treasury and the court.

The chamber of the pharaoh, where they made daily reports to the ruler, was the central body of the entire administration, where all its threads converged. Other government reports were made equally here, and theoretically they all passed through the hands of the pharaoh. Even from the limited number of documents of this kind that have come down to us, we see a huge number of detailed administrative issues that were decided by the monarch.

In the interests of local government, Egypt was divided into administrative districts - nomes. The nomarchs were at the head of the district. According to existing documents, it is currently impossible to determine to what extent the local rulers felt the pressure of the pharaoh in their management and administration. In the nome, apparently, there was a royal representative, who was obliged to look after the interests of the pharaoh, and there were also "overseers of the crown possessions" (probably subordinate to him), who were in charge of the herds in each nome. But the nomarch himself was an intermediary through whose hands all the income of the treasury from the nome passed. "All the taxes of the royal house passed through my hands," says Ameni from the Antelope Nome.

As D. Breasted and B. Turaev point out, not all the estates that the nomarch ruled were his unlimited property. His property consisted of lands and incomes of two kinds: the "father's estate" received from the ancestors and the former family estate, and the "princely estate", which could not be passed by will and in the event of the death of the nomarch, was each time re-granted as allotted by the pharaoh to his heirs. It was precisely this circumstance that made it possible to a certain extent for the pharaoh to keep the feudal rulers in his hands and imprison the supporters of his house throughout the country.

The main administrative body that coordinated and centralized the nomes was the treasury, thanks to the functioning of which grain, livestock, poultry and handicrafts products flowed into the warehouses of the central administration every year, and then money was collected by local governors. There were also other sources of income for the treasury. In addition to internal income, which included taxes from nomes and residences, the pharaoh also received regular income from gold mines in Nubia and on the Coptic road to the Red Sea. "Trade with Punt and the southern shores of the Red Sea, apparently, was the exclusive prerogative of the pharaoh, and should have brought a significant income; likewise, the mines and quarries in the Sinai Peninsula, and also, perhaps, the Hammamat quarries were a regular source of income" .

Over all the financial management was the "chief treasurer", who, of course, lived at the court, and gave the pharaoh an annual financial report.

According to historians D. Breasted and B. Turaev, a state arranged in this way was strong as long as a strong man was at the head of the state. As soon as the pharaoh showed weakness, so that the nomarchs could become independent, and the whole was ready to fall apart.

Administration function

In order to manage a huge state, the pharaoh creates an extensive control apparatus. The number of officials of ancient Egypt could compete with modernity. Their appointment depended on the will of the king.

So, a certain official tells about his dark origin in the following way: "You will talk about it with each other and the old men will teach them young men. I came from a poor family and from a small city, but the lord of Both Countries (the king) appreciated me. I took a big place in his heart. The king, the likeness of the sun god , in the splendor of his palace, he looked upon me. He elevated me above the (royal) comrades, introducing me into the midst of the court princes ... he instructed me to lead the work, when I was a youth, he found me, the news of me reached his heart. Me They brought gold into the house to make figures and images of all the gods.

Pharaoh had to be especially careful in selecting people for important positions. The vizier was the most powerful person in the state after the pharaoh. It was an incredibly lucrative position with huge opportunities. The well-being of the country largely depended on the devotion of this person. Wise kings tried to appoint their successor to this position. If this was not possible, then a close friend of the pharaoh became the vizier.

After Hatshepsut's accession to the throne, "her supporters occupied the most influential positions." Closest to the queen was Senmut. He brought up the young queen Nefrut. The most influential of the queen's supporters was Khapuseneb, who was both the vizier and the high priest of Amon, that is, all the power of the administration and all the power of the priesthood were concentrated in his hands.

Awards to officials and the military in ancient Egypt were quite common. Pharaohs have long noticed that nothing strengthens human loyalty as much as rewards. One courtier defined the pharaoh as follows: "He is the one who multiplies good, who knows how to give. He is a god, the king of the gods. He knows everyone who knows him. He rewards those who serve him. He protects his supporters. This is Ra, whose visible the body is the solar disc and which lives forever."

During the wars of liberation and the conquest of Syria, the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom presented gold to the brave. The custom took root. And soon civilians also began to receive honorary awards.

It happened that the reward was handed over to one person, but more often in the palace they gathered many at once, honored with the mercy of the pharaoh. When they left the house, dressed in their best clothes, and got into the chariot, all the servants and neighbors lined up at the door to greet the lucky ones. In front of the palace, the chariot was left on a specially designated area. The charioteers talked among themselves or with the guards. Each praised his master and the rewards that awaited him.

When everyone gathered in the courtyard, the pharaoh went out onto the balcony, behind which was a hall with columns. From the street you can see a whole suite of royal chambers with armchairs and luxurious caskets. Gifts were laid out on the tables. They were served to the pharaoh and replaced by others as needed. The tsarist commanders lined up the recipients and led them one by one to the balcony. Here they greeted the pharaoh, but only with a show of hands, not prostrating themselves on the ground, and uttered laudatory words in honor of the ruler. Pharaoh responded with praise to his servant. He talked about his loyalty, ability and devotion. And he himself announced the promotion to those who especially distinguished themselves: “You are my great servant, you listened to everything related to your duties that you performed, and I am pleased with you. I entrust this position to you and say:“ You will eat Pharaoh’s bread, he will be alive, unharmed, healthy, your master in the temple of the Aten "". Such ceremonies were the privilege of only the highest nobility.

Sometimes these ceremonies did not take place in the palace, but in the open air, either because the recipient was too important a person and he could not just throw a few necklaces from the balcony, or because a lot of people gathered. In such cases, a light gazebo with a canopy was built in a large courtyard, which skillful artisans turned into an exquisite and luxurious one.

The reward was not only jewelry, but also slaves, most often captured in battle. Horses were a special prize.

But for career success, a tactful attitude towards the pharaoh was also necessary, and the sages glorify the one who knows how to keep silent in the royal service. Sohetepibra, a nobleman in the court of Amenemhet III, left on his gravestone an exhortation to children to serve faithfully and faithfully to the king, and he says among many other things: "Fight for his name, justify yourself by swearing by him, and you will have no worries. The king's favorite is blessed but there is no grave for a man hostile to his majesty: his body will be thrown into the water."

In theory, there was no one who would limit the power of the pharaoh as head of government. In reality, he had to reckon with the demands of this or that class, this or that powerful family, party or individuals, and finally, the harem, just like his successors in the East at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite the luxury that the organization of the court staff testifies, the pharaoh did not lead the life of a wasteful despot. At least during the 4th Dynasty, while still a prince, he held difficult positions supervising the work in quarries and mines, or assisted his father by acting as a vizier or first minister, and he gained precious experience in business even before his accession to the throne. management.

One of the first pharaohs to experience co-ruling was Amenemhat I. In 1980 BC, under the influence of an assassination attempt that arose in the circle of close associates, Amenemhat appointed his son Senusret as his co-ruler. The prince took up his new high post and energetically set about his duties. Amenemhat had made Egypt a prosperous country even before the assassination attempt. Therefore, the prince had to take up foreign policy, where he achieved tremendous success.

Most likely, Senusret I appreciated the advantages that he received from the general government with his father, and it was this that prompted him to appoint his son Amenemhat as his co-ruler. After the death of his father, Amenemhat II easily became the sole head of state, as he was co-ruler with his father for three years. His son Senusret II also served as his father's co-ruler for three years. Most likely, such co-government played an important role in the fact that under these kings Egypt flourished. It is possible that the pharaohs of subsequent dynasties appreciated the usefulness of co-ruling, since many kings had such experience.

No matter how high was the official position of the pharaoh as the august god at the head of the state, he nevertheless maintained close personal relations with the most eminent representatives know. As a prince, he was brought up with a group of young men from noble families, and together they learned the noble art of swimming. Friendships that began in this way in youth were to have a powerful influence on the monarch in the subsequent years of his life. There were cases when the pharaoh gave his daughter as a wife to one of the nobles with whom he was brought up in his youth. And then the strict etiquette of the palace was violated for the sake of this favorite: on official occasions, he was not supposed to kiss the ashes of the pharaoh's feet, but enjoyed the unprecedented honor of kissing the king's foot. Since the matter concerned those close to him, it was a mere formality; in private, the pharaoh sat simply, without any hesitation, next to one of his favorites, while attendant slaves anointed them both without hesitation. The daughter of such a noble person could become the official queen and mother of the next king.

There is a scene depicting the king inspecting a public building together with the chief architect, the vizier. While the pharaoh admires the work and praises the faithful minister, he notices that he does not hear the words of the royal favor. The exclamation of the king set the waiting courtiers in motion, and the minister, stricken with a blow, was quickly transferred to the palace itself, where the pharaoh hastily summoned the priests and chief physicians. He sends to the library for a casket with medical scrolls, but all in vain. Doctors declare the vizier's condition hopeless. The king is overwhelmed with grief and retires to his chambers to pray to Ra. Then he orders to make all the preparations for the burial of the deceased nobleman, orders to make a coffin of ebony and anoint the body in his presence. Finally, the eldest son of the deceased is commissioned to build a tomb, which will then be furnished and endowed by the king. From this it is clear that the most powerful nobles in Egypt were connected with the special pharaoh by close ties of consanguinity and friendship.

Foreign policy, military function and diplomacy

Undoubtedly, no matter what natural resources a state has, its prosperity is not possible without an active, and sometimes aggressive, foreign policy. Egypt, especially during the empire, was a huge country. However, this country was not strong. After each period of unrest, the pharaohs had to reunite the country.

Almost until the New Kingdom, Egypt did not have a standing army. If the country was in danger, then the pharaoh mobilized the population, and it defended the state. Most often at that time, conflicts were local, and did not require the personal intervention of the pharaoh. The army was led either by the nomarch of the territory in danger, or by a specially appointed official. The pharaoh had with him "people of the retinue" who made up his personal guard, and "companions of the ruler" - a group of noble warriors devoted to him, from which, according to E. A Razin, military leaders were appointed: "head of the army", "head of recruits", " military commander of Middle Egypt" and other commanding persons.

The pharaoh personally led the army during punitive or conquest expeditions. The king tried to testify the results of especially successful campaigns in inscriptions. During the reign of Thutmose III, 17 military campaigns were made in Palestine and Syria. Conquest campaigns in Asia Minor were carried out under the personal command of Thutmose III. When the question was being decided which way it would be better to go to Megiddo: convenient, but long roads, or a narrow, but short path, Thutmose ordered to go the straight road, declaring that he would go "himself at the head of his army, showing the way with his own steps" .

Nubia brought Egypt the most trouble during the Middle Kingdom. The young pharaoh Senusret I personally led the troops, which "infiltrated Waawat to Korosko, the terminus of the road through the desert ... and captured many prisoners among the Majais in the country lying on the other side." Work was also resumed in the Hammamat quarries, in addition, "troglodytes, Asians and inhabitants of the sands were punished." Later, under his personal leadership, a trip to the country of Kush was carried out.

As the historian D. Breasted writes, Senusret I "attentively followed the development of Egypt's foreign interests." Most likely he was one of the first pharaohs who entered into relations with the oases.

Senusret III finally and completely conquered Nubia. For better communication with Nubia, the pharaoh ordered his engineers to clear a channel in a granite rock, which had been pierced under Senusret I. Several campaigns to Kush were personally led by the pharaoh, until the south was finally subdued.

Under the warlike Senusret III, the Egyptians invade Syria for the first time. One of his military companions named Sebekhu mentions in his memorial plate in Abydos that he accompanied the king during the campaign to Reten (Syria), in the area called Sekmim..

All issues relating to war and peace were decided by the pharaoh himself. Pharaoh Psammetich II was in Tanis and was engaged in charitable deeds when he was informed that the negro Kuar had raised his sword against Egypt.

During the New Kingdom, the role of the army increased dramatically. Most importantly, the army has now become permanent. The pharaoh was at the head of the army. Egypt became a military state. This could not but affect the entire Egyptian society. The military career became prestigious, and the sons of the pharaoh, who had previously held high administrative positions, now became military leaders. From among the military ranks, the tsar now appointed deputies of administrative posts.

But foreign policy was not only conquest. The pharaohs closely followed the expansion of trade relations. An important direction in the foreign policy of Egypt was the expedition, organized personally by the pharaoh, for luxury goods for the royal needs.

Queen Hatshepsut decided to build an extraordinary temple. It was to become a heaven of god, where Amon should feel like at home in Punta. But the new temple needed myrtle trees. Then the queen organized an expedition to Punt after them. The campaign ended with an unprecedented success. The ships returned home laden "very heavily with the marvels of the country of Punta, every fragrant tree of the Divine Country, piles of myrtle resin and fresh myrtle trees, ebony and pure ivory, emu green gold, cinnamon wood, frankincense, eye rubs, baboons, monkeys , dogs, skins of southern panthers, natives and their children. Nothing like this was brought to any king who ever lived in the north."

Diplomatic ties were established between the pharaohs and the kings of other great powers. So between Ramesses II and Hattusilis III, the prince of the Hittites, an agreement was concluded. According to him, if any enemy decides to attack the lands subordinate to the Egyptian king, then after the request of the pharaoh "come, bring military forces with you against my enemy", then the prince should do this: "if you yourself cannot come, then at least you must send your archers and your war chariots." Pharaoh should do the same.

During the first period of the empire, Egypt was at the center of world politics. In Asia, the dominion of Amenhotep III was universally recognized; even the Babylonian court did not dispute his supremacy in Syria and Palestine. When the kings tried to involve the Babylonian king Kurigaltsu in an alliance directed against the pharaoh, he sent them a categorical refusal on the grounds that he was in alliance with the pharaoh: “Stop plotting an alliance with me. If you are plotting hostility against the king of Egypt, my brother, and If you want to unite with anyone, shall I not go out and destroy you, for he (Pharaoh) is in alliance with me? All powers - Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni and Alasia (Cyprus) - did everything to gain the friendship of Egypt.

The Tell el-Amarna archive is of great importance for studying the diplomatic relations of Egypt. About 400 letters were found, written in Babylonian cuneiform on clay tablets. These letters are the official correspondence between the pharaohs and the kings of the above states during the period of the new kingdom. The vast majority of letters came from Asia, and only a very small number of letters (copies, drafts, unsent letters) were destined for Asia. The latter are all written on behalf of the pharaoh. "Of these, three letters were addressed to the Babylonian kings, one letter to the king of Artsava and six letters to the dependent rulers of the conquered city-states of Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia." Even if these letters were not written directly by the hand of the pharaoh, they were written directly under his dictation.

If the news was so important that it could not be trusted with a letter, then ambassadors were sent to Egypt. The reception of foreign ambassadors served as an occasion for a magnificent ceremony, and especially flattered the pharaoh when he gave an audience to many envoys from all over the world at once. The Rameses have always received Nubians, Negroes, people from Punt, Libyans, Syrians and envoys from Naharin. At their court, you no longer see Cretans with long curled hair, in colorful loincloths, who once brought rhytons, jugs with spouts, bowls with handles, large bowls decorated with flowers, and asked to be allowed "to be on the water of the King." These embassies ceased, but the glory of the pharaoh reached countries that Thutmose and Amenhotep had not even heard of: Media, Persia, Bactria and the banks of the Indus.

For these receptions, a gazebo was built in the center of a large square. She was surrounded by guards, servants with umbrellas and scribes. The ambassadors lined up on four sides, placing their precious offerings in front of them. The scribes wrote them down, and then sent them to the warehouses of the nearest temple. In return, the pharaoh gave the ambassadors the "breath of life" or bestowed gifts that were much more valuable than those presented to him. Pharaoh really liked to pretend to be a golden mountain among other countries. He did not refuse to help "princes" and kings who found themselves in a difficult situation. And they tried to contact him with a marriage contract or in some other way, without ceasing, however, to maintain relations with possible rivals of the Egyptians.

We see that the foreign policy of the pharaohs was extremely diverse, and it did not differ much from the modern foreign policy of modern states.

Legislative, judicial functions

Egypt was a highly developed country in all areas, including the legal one. But not a single complete code of laws has come down to us. Undoubtedly, the pharaoh was the main lawmaker in Egypt.

Several decrees of Pharaoh Seti I in favor of the temple of Osiris have been preserved, in which severe punishments are established for plundering the property of the temple. D. G. Reder believes that the usual punishments of the current legislation were insufficient, and emergency measures had to be resorted to.

There is an image of Ramesses II, where he is sitting on the throne, he says to his seal keeper: "Call on the nobles who are waiting in front so that I can hear their opinion about this country. I myself will consider this matter."

The meeting is over. It remains only to get to work. The pharaoh will be kept up to date at all times. On a granite stele, it will later testify to the success of this enterprise.

Thus, we conclude that although there were advisers under the pharaoh, they did not play any significant role in the drafting of laws. However, it is impossible to say with certainty that the pharaoh was engaged in local legislation. Most likely, this function belonged to the nomarchs, who knew local features and traditions better.

The chief judge of all Egypt was the pharaoh. However, as in all other branches of government, the king had assistants. Like a treasury, judicial administration was subject to the whole management of one person - the supreme judge of the whole kingdom.

No matter how powerful the vizier was, the people turned to him as to a person endowed with the highest judicial powers and able to restore trampled justice; his position was by tradition the most popular in the long line of the pharaoh's servants. The people looked to him as their great protector, and the highest praise for Amon in the mouth of his admirer was to call him "the vizier of the poor, who does not take bribes from the guilty." His appointment was considered so important that it was made by the king himself. When appointed to a new position, the tsar tells the vizier that he must behave like one who "does not tilt his face towards princes and advisers, and also does not make the whole people his brothers"; and he says again: "It is a distaste for God to show affection. This is the instruction: you will do the same, you will look at the one who is known to you as well as the one who is unknown to you, and the one who is close. Also, as well as one who is far away... Such an official will prosper greatly in his place... Do not inflame with anger against a person unjustly... But inspire fear in yourself, let them fear you, for only that prince is the prince who is feared. Here, the true fear of the prince is to do justice. If people do not know who you are, they will not say: he is only a man. Likewise, the subordinates of the vizier must be just people; so the tsar advises the new vizier: "Here, one must speak of the chief scribe of the vizier: "A just scribe - one must speak of him." "justice" was truly necessary. So great was the respect for the people who occupied this high office that the words "life, prosperity, health" were sometimes added to the vizier's name, which, in fact, should have accompanied only the name of the pharaoh or the prince of the royal house.

For a very long time in Egypt there was no specific class of professional judges. However, any person who occupied a high administrative position, and who knew most of the laws, could rule justice. That is exactly what happened most of the time.

The punishment of condemned criminals was appointed by the pharaoh, and therefore the relevant documents were sent to him for resolution, while the victims awaited their fate in imprisonment.

Under certain conditions that are still not entirely clear to us, it was possible to appeal directly to the tsar and offer at his discretion relevant documents. Such a document is the legal papyrus of the Old Kingdom, now stored in Berlin.

Claims from litigating heirs also passed directly through the pharaoh. All the lands granted by the pharaoh were transferred on the basis of royal decrees entered into the "royal writings" in the offices of the vizier.

"Wanderings of Sinuhet" is the only case known to us when the pharaoh pardoned the guilty. The narrator described in detail how it all happened. Pharaoh not only forgave Sinuhet, gave him gifts and allowed him to return to his homeland, but also wanted to look at him. Our hero has come to the border outpost of the Path of Horus. He distributed gifts received from the royal court to his nomad friends and trusted the guards, who brought him by ship to the residence of Ititaui. Everyone in the palace had been warned in advance. The royal children gathered in the guardroom. The courtiers, whose duty it was to escort visitors to the hall of columns, showed Sinuhet the way, and now the sinning subject appeared before the sovereign, who sat on the ceremonial throne in the gilded hall. Sinuhet prostrates before him on the floor. He realizes the full gravity of his offense, and horror seizes him: "I was like one covered in darkness. My soul disappeared, my body weakened, and there was no more heart in my chest, and I did not distinguish life from death."

Sinuhet was ordered to get up. Pharaoh, who had just severely rebuked him, relented and allowed Sinuhet to speak. Sinuhet did not abuse royal generosity and ended his short speech with the words: "Here I am before you - my life belongs to you. May your Majesty do as you please."

Pharaoh orders the children to be brought. He draws the queen's attention to the fact that Sinuhet has changed a lot. He lived among the Asiatics for so long that he became like them. The queen screams in surprise, and the royal children confirm in chorus: "Truly, it is not he, the king, our lord!"

After much praise, they ask to pardon Sinuhet, for he acted out of thoughtlessness. Sinuhet leaves the palace not only pardoned, but also rewarded: now he has a house and from now on he can enjoy the beautiful things presented to him by the pharaoh.

The pharaoh could be considered a god, the legitimate son of Amun, but this did not save him from enemies. Special cases of a private nature were "heard" by the chief judge and the judge "at Nekhen"; in one case, when a conspiracy arose in the harem, the accused queen appeared before two judges "at Nekhen", specially appointed for this purpose by the crown, and among them was not the pharaoh himself - the supreme judge.

In the "Biography of the nobleman Una" a description of the process against the king's wife Urethetes is given. "The case was conducted in the royal women's house against the wife of King Urethetes in secret. His Majesty ordered me (the nobleman) to go down to conduct an interrogation alone, and there was not a single chief judge - a riding dignitary, not a single dignitary except me alone, since I I used the order and was pleasing to His Majesty, and since His Majesty relied on me. It was I who kept the record alone with one judge and the mouth of Nekhen, and my position was the head of the palace Khentiushe.

Towards the end of the reign of Ramesses III, one of his wives, named Tii, conceived to pass the crown of the old pharaoh to her son, whom the Turin papyrus calls Pentaur, although this was not his real name. She agreed with the chief administrator of the palace Pabakikamun ("Blind Servant"). It is not known how the pharaoh destroyed their plot. It is only known that the main instigators and their assistants were arrested, and with them all those who knew about their despicable plans and did not inform the pharaoh about this. Judges were appointed: two treasurers, a fan-bearer, four butlers, and one herald. The pharaoh preferred people from his entourage to ordinary judges. In a preliminary speech at the trial, the beginning of which has not been preserved, he says that no one will be spared.

In both cases described above, we have a conspiracy against God himself and the fact that in those remote times the people who took part in the harem conspiracy were not immediately put to death without distant reasoning, is a remarkable evidence of the pharaoh's high sense of justice and amazing judicial tolerance of that era. The immediate death penalty, without the slightest attempt to legally establish the guilt of the convicted person, did not seem illegal in the same country in the last century.

religious function

The ancient peoples attached great importance to religion, the Egyptians were no exception. The king was considered officially a god, and one of his most common titles was "Good God"; so great was the reverence that befitted him, that when speaking of him, they avoided mentioning his name. When the king died, he was ranked among the host of gods and, like them, received eternal worship in the temple in front of the huge pyramid in which he rested. To ensure peace and prosperity for the country, there must be a ruler on the throne, appointed by the gods and descended from their divine flesh. However, if this main basic condition - the divinity of the pharaoh - was not observed, everything went to dust. The country was in decline. No one else offered sacrifices to the gods, and they turned their backs on Egypt and its people. Thus, the main duty of the pharaoh is to express his gratitude to the gods, the rulers of all things.

Most of the steles reported that the pharaoh, being in Memphis, in Ona, in Per-Ramesses or in Thebes, did what was pleasing to the gods: he restored the sanctuaries that had fallen into decay, built new ones, strengthened the walls of temples, installed statues, updated furniture and sacred boats, set obelisks, decorated altars and sacrificial tables, and in his generosity surpassed everything that other kings had done before him.

Here, for example, is the prayer and confession of Ramesses III: "Glory to you, gods and goddesses, lords of heaven, earth, waters! Your steps on the boat of millions of years are wide next to your father Ra, whose heart rejoices when he sees your perfection, sending down happiness the land of Tameri... He rejoices, he grows younger, looking at how great you are in the sky and mighty on earth, looking at how you give air to breathless nostrils. I am your son, created by your two hands. he is alive, unharmed and healthy, of the whole earth. You have created for me perfection on earth. I do my duty in peace. My heart is tirelessly looking for what is necessary and useful for your sanctuaries. By my commands, written in every office, I grant to them people and lands, cattle and ships. Their barges sail on the Nile. I have made your sanctuaries prosperous, which were in decline. I have instituted divine offerings for you in addition to those that were for you. I have worked for you in your golden houses with gold. , silver, lapis lazuli and turquoise. I have been watching over your treasures. I made up for them with numerous things. I have filled your bins with barley and wheat, I have built for you fortresses, sanctuaries, cities. Your names are carved there forever. I have increased the number of your employees by adding many people to them. I have not taken from you a man, not a dozen people in an army, and in ship crews from those in the sanctuaries of the gods, since the kings built them. I issued decrees to be eternal on earth for the kings who come after me. I have sacrificed all sorts of good things for you. I have built you warehouses for the festivities, filled them with food. I have made for you millions of ornamented vessels of gold, silver and copper. I have built for you boats that float on the river, with their great dwellings sheathed in gold."

After this introduction, Ramesses lists everything he did in the main temples of Egypt. He speaks for a long time about the gifts brought in honor of Amon, the lord of the two thrones of the Two lands, Atum, the owner of the Two lands in On, the great Bird, located south of his wall, and in honor of other gods. Since the appearance of the pharaohs, one can say about almost every one of them what is inscribed on the stele from Amada:

"This is a beneficent king, for he does work for all the gods, erecting temples for them and carving their images." So Thutmose III decided to expand the Temple of Karnak. “At the end of February, on the feast of the new moon, which coincided by a lucky chance with the day of the tenth feast of Amun, he could personally celebrate the laying ceremony with the greatest pomp. God appeared as a good omen and even took a personal part in measuring the future area of the temple with a rope.

In addition to the construction of temples and sanctuaries, many pharaohs for some time were also the high priests of the main god.

The ruler had to perform various religious rites: he scatters grains of demons around him, strikes the temple doors twelve times with his mace, sanctifies the naos with fire, and then runs around the temple, holding a vessel in each hand, and in other cases - an oar with a square. In addition, the pharaoh had to participate in some great religious holidays. During the great festival of Opet, he was supposed to appear on a sacred boat over a hundred cubits long, which was towed from Karnak to Luxor. During the feast of the god Mina at the beginning of the "shemu" season, the pharaoh had to cut the "bedet" sheaf himself. Ramesses III, for example, could not entrust this duty to anyone else, even though this holiday coincided with the day of his coronation.

Ramesses II at the beginning of his reign took the rank of the great priest of Amun. This did not prevent him from immediately appointing another high priest, to whom the young pharaoh gladly conceded his burdensome and boring priestly duties. However, Ramesses II, like his predecessors and successors, never resigned his duties towards the gods. By this, he maintained calm in the country, since, while he himself was considered the son of God, ordinary people generally put up with their fate and did not dare to rebel: it was not in their interests to quarrel with God.

The official cults in the great temples demanded more and more time and attention from the monarch as the rites became more complex with the development of a complex state religion. Under such conditions, duties inevitably exceeded the strength of one person, so the pharaoh began to appoint priests.

The most important was the appointment of the high priest of Amun. Ramesses II, as we know, at the beginning of his reign, took the rank of high priest of Amun. After a short time, having decided to transfer this sacred position to another, he appointed not the servant of Amon, but the first priest of the god Inkhar (Onuris) from the Tinite nome. Before making a final decision, he had the god choose his own priest. The pharaoh recited to him the names of all the courtiers, commanders, prophets, and palace dignitaries assembled before him, but the god expressed his approval only when the name of Nebunenef was called.

"Be grateful to him, for he called you!" - says the pharaoh in conclusion.

Then the pharaoh gave the new high priest two gold rings and a staff of gilded silver. All Egypt was informed that henceforth all the possessions and affairs of Amon were in the hands of Nebunenef.

Another duty of the ruler was to expand the domain of the god.

From ancient times, the pharaoh was the heir of the gods, the son of the sun god, and owned Egypt, which previously belonged directly to the gods. Therefore, the possessions of the gods spread along with the possessions of the pharaoh. The king at that distant time was called "the one who acquires the world for him (god), who elevated him (pharaoh) to the throne." For the ruler, the whole world is a huge area of influence of the deity. Therefore, all military campaigns were made for the glory of God. And their results are imprinted on the walls of the temple so that God can see them.

To be a pharaoh, one must not only be born in the family of a king, but also have a huge supply of energy and knowledge.

Undoubtedly, the ruler of Egypt gave a lot of strength to the state, but he received no less. Pharaoh was surrounded by greatness and reverence. He lived in a beautiful palace, surrounded by concubines, and not only worked, but also enjoyed life.

Statehood of ancient Egypt.

In the Ancient East - the predominant, but not overwhelming role of the general, public, while observing the Golden Mean.

State legal relations- the embodiment of living law (law enforcement). They are not relative and not absolute, in contrast to the manifestations of private wills. State-legal relations are the exercise of a right that is not formulated in an act of will, but is known in advance and pre-established. At the forefront is such a feature of state power as impartiality. What a government official does, he does not for himself, but for the state. Thus, he is impersonal. Hence the imperativeness of state acts.

Pharaoh - at the apex of state power. The name "pharaoh" - from "per-ao" - "high house, temple" or "neb-nuter" - "lord, god." When the pharaoh appeared, the subjects fell on their faces. Great honor - the right to kiss the knees of the pharaoh. In everyday speech, it is forbidden to mention his name, so as not to jinx it. Instead of a name, the indefinite personal pronoun of the third person "one" is used.

The personification of the pharaoh-god, but he is not quite a god, but

Head of the cult (spiritual ruler, sacred concept of the state)

It has partially secular functions:

* sovereign of both parts of the country,

* a symbol of the unity of the country (important, since separatism has not been completely eliminated).

* the chief judge - for the analysis of appeals, judged cases that concerned him personally, gave sanction for certain types of punishment (cutting off the ear). Here it is limited by the power of the vizier

* Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. Here he was limited by the power of the vizier.

* higher control functions.

The pharaoh was surrounded by a magnificent palace and harem.

Pharaoh was not a guarantor of the welfare of his subjects, this is the Nile, and he was not higher than the Nile.

The throne was inherited through the maternal line. Hence the practice of incest in dynasties.

pharaoh's court- the highest administrative body + temple function (the pharaoh was a god) + management of the king's personal household.

Vizier (jati, chati)- secular ruler, the second powerful figure after the pharaoh. Until the IV Dynasty, inclusive, this position was occupied by princes-future heirs, after - the transition to persons of a non-royal dynasty. 6th Dynasty - the principle of succession to the position of vizier (as a rule, the successors of one of the strengthened nomarchs of Ancient Egypt). The vizier of the last pharaoh of the 11th dynasty overthrew the ruler and founded the next one. After the expulsion of the Hyksos, their positions of viziers were established for the south and north of the country, from now on their power and the power of the pharaoh were mutually balanced. The concentration of actual power in one hand. High priest of the god Thoth. Representing the interests of the feudal lords of the whole country before the center.

To carry out tasks - a large staff of officials - couriers, clerks, bailiffs - branched vizier's administrative office. By the era of the New Kingdom, a "ministerial system" was taking shape. Vizier leads big kenbet(personal office of the vizier, the highest judicial and administrative body of the country, "government"). The court is not separate from the administration

Powers of the vizier set out in the legal act “Instruction to the Vizier”:

Beloved comrade of the king;

Permission to speak in the palace;

Bears responsibility for national economy(regulation of crops, irrigation systems, land relations);

Head of the bureaucratic corps;

- "the only comrade of the king."

Judicial functions:

High Judge (consideration of appeals of complaints before submitting them to the pharaoh),

Boundary disputes between nomes and field boundaries between communities (the main concern for drawing administrative boundaries in the state),

Monitors the legality of the process in the courts,

Appoints judges of the kenbets of the country - Serov.

General management:

Appointment of officials to the lower and middle state. positions,

Considers and approves the reports of the main government bodies of the country,

Foreign policy (appointment and acceptance of ambassadors),

He corrects the mistakes of his subordinates by his decision.

Commands the army and navy,

Maintenance of the yard

Preliminarily considers petitions "in the highest name"

Control of the work of the apparatus of officials of the country.

Household:

Monitors the correct collection and assignment of taxes,

Manages the treasury with the treasurer,

Governs the Pharaoh's property,

Gives orders for the holding of liturgies,

Keeps the state seal.

Territory and territorial administration.

Historically, Egypt has developed from several territories.

In the pre-dynastic era - the unification of tribes in Upper (the entire course of the Nile south of Memphis) and Lower Egypt (to the north of the delta). In addition, there are some oases in the Libyan desert. In different eras of the imperial dominant, the border was in the north to the Euphrates. In the era of the ancient kingdom, Egypt took possession of almost the entire Sinai Peninsula, extended power to the African coast of the Red Sea.

Menes (the ancestor of the first dynasty), the southern ruler - subjugated the north (more backward, the Delta) and united Egypt. Crown of Egypt - for two parts of the country. The southern crown is a tall white hat, Khvostov is a “pin”. North - truncated red cap. Menes combined the crowns.

Territorial division.

Strabo: the country was divided into nomes, nomes - on toparchies, toparchy - into other divisions. The smallest administrative-territorial unit arur.

Nome(Greek "country, region") - the Egyptian name "tesh", "sep", "hesep". Basic tax unit. Nome had its own patron god and its coat of arms (totem)

After the unification of Egypt into one state (22 century BC), the former kings - the heads of the nomes - turned into officials dependent on the pharaoh - nomarch governors(“first after the king”) - as a rule, representatives of the most noble local family. The position is hereditary at least until the end of the Hyksos rule (the accession of the 18th dynasty). Inheritance- cognate - as a rule, a grandson along the line of a daughter. Before the fall of the nomarchs (that is, before the expulsion of the hexons), the pharaoh is a formal confirmation by decree of the fact of the transfer of office. Nomarchs - feudal dependence on the pharaohs. In the era of the New Kingdom - the disappearance of feudal dependence. The nomarchs had the highest judicial and administrative power within the nomes and collected taxes for the treasury. They had a staff of officials at their disposal.

Nome feudalism.

Nomes have always been similar to hereditary destinies, thus, the ancient kingdom can be considered as an era of the formation of an early feudal monarchy, which subsequently changed its basis from appanage (recognizing the formal sovereignty of the main nome, but retaining the right to further unhindered possession of destinies-nomes) to beneficiary, granted.

In the era of the Old Kingdom - the folding of the foundations of feudal sovereignty.

In the era of the Middle Kingdom, columns - yahty (“belonging to the field”) continue to be preserved. During this period, the peasants are dispossessed of land - they are attached to the lands of the feudal lord and work for him, but do not become slaves, retaining partial rights and legal capacity.

The nomarch turns into a real king - hatya - with his own court and palace, organizes his own administration, the judicial power is also in his hands. Therefore, the Hyksos, not meeting a unified armed force, seized power. 1580 B.C. - The nomarchs of Thebes drive out the Hyksos, forming the 18th dynasty of Thebes.

Local administration of the nome.

The central authority in the nome is kenbet("angle, focus"). It is believed that the extensive system of kenbets of nomes was subordinate to the main kenbet of the country, the head is the vizier. In kenbet noma:

Local feudal lords

Representatives of the central bureaucracy on a parity basis

The number of members of kenbets - always even(for social balance).

The noma noma temple and the smaller temples in its districts, economic management units, owned vast tracts of land that were their exclusive property. Temples are also popular courts (the bulk of civil lawsuits).

Jajat- presumably, an analogue of the national assembly, initially - at the level of the entire tribe, then - at the level of rural communities. The governing bodies had a tribal basis.

The word "pharaoh" owes its origin to Greek. It is noteworthy that it was found even in the Old Testament.

Mysteries of history

As the saying goes ancient legend, the first pharaoh of Egypt - Menes - later became the most popular deity. However, in general, information about these rulers is rather vague. We can't even claim that they all actually existed. The pre-dynastic period is most fully covered in this regard. Historians identify specific people who ruled Southern and Northern Egypt.

paraphernalia

The ancient pharaohs of Egypt without fail passed the rite of coronation. Memphis was the venue for the traditional solemn action. The new divine rulers received symbols of power from the priests. Among them were a diadem, a scepter, a whip, crowns and a cross. The last attribute was in the shape of the letter "t" and was crowned with a loop, symbolizing life itself.

The scepter was a short wand. Its upper end was curved. This attribute of power came from Such a thing could belong not only to kings and gods, but also to high officials.

Peculiarities

The ancient pharaohs of Egypt, like sons, could not appear before their people with their heads uncovered. The main royal headdress was the crown. There were many varieties of this symbol of power, among which are the White Crown of Upper Egypt, the Red Crown “deshret”, the crown of Lower Egypt, and also the “Pshent” - a double version consisting of the White and Red crowns (symbolized the unity of the two kingdoms). The power of the pharaoh in ancient Egypt even extended to outer space - so strong was the admiration for each heir to the creator of the world. However, it would be wrong to say that all pharaohs were despotic rulers and sole rulers of destinies.

Some ancient images depict the pharaohs of Egypt, whose heads are covered with scarves. This royal attribute was gold with blue stripes. Often a crown was placed on him.

Appearance

According to tradition, the ancient pharaohs of Egypt were clean-shaven. Another external distinguishing feature of the rulers is the beard, which symbolized masculine strength and divine power. It is noteworthy that Hatshepsut also wore a beard, however, a consignment note.

Narmer

This pharaoh is a representative of the 0 or I dynasty. He ruled around the end of the third millennium BC. A plate from Hierakonpolis depicts him as the ruler of the united lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. It remains a mystery why his name is not included in royal lists. Some historians believe that Narmer and Menes are the same person. Until now, many argue about whether all the ancient pharaohs of Egypt are really non-fictional characters.

Significant arguments in favor of the reality of Narmer are such found objects as a mace and a palette. Ancient Artifacts glorify the conqueror of Lower Egypt named Narmer. It is claimed that he was the predecessor of Menes. However, this theory also has its opponents.

Menes

For the first time, Menes became the ruler of an entire country. This pharaoh laid the foundation for the 1st dynasty. Based on archaeological data, it can be assumed that the time of his reign was about 3050 BC. Translated from ancient Egyptian, his name means "strong", "durable".

Traditions dating back to the Ptolemaic era tell that Menes did a lot to unite the northern and southern parts of the country. In addition, his name was mentioned in the chronicles of Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Elian, Diodorus and Manetho. It is believed that Menes is the founder of Egyptian statehood, writing and cults. In addition, he initiated the construction of Memphis, in which his residence was located.

Menes was famous as a wise politician and an experienced military leader. However, the period of his reign is characterized in different ways. According to some sources, the life of ordinary Egyptians became worse under the reign of Menes, while others note the establishment of worship and temple rites, which testifies to the wise government of the country.

Historians believe that Menes passed away in the sixty-third year of his reign. The culprit of the death of this ruler, as expected, was a hippopotamus. The enraged animal inflicted mortal injuries on Menes.

Chorus Aha

The history of the pharaohs of Egypt would be incomplete without mentioning this glorious ruler. Modern Egyptologists believe that it was Hor Aha who united Upper and Lower Egypt, and also founded Memphis. There is a version that he was the son of Menes. This pharaoh ascended the throne in 3118, 3110 or 3007 BC. e.

During his reign, ancient Egyptian chronicle writing was born. Each year received a special name for the brightest event that took place. So, one of the years of the reign of Hor Aha is called as follows: "the defeat and capture of Nubia." However, wars were not always waged. In general, the period of the reign of this son of the sun god is characterized as peaceful, calm.

The Abydos tomb of the pharaoh Hor Aha is the largest in the northwestern group of similar structures. However, the most pretentious is the Northern Tomb, which is located in Saqqara. It also contained objects carved with the name Hor Akha. For the most part, these are wooden labels and clay seals located on the vessels. On some ivory items, the name Bener-Ib ("sweet in heart") was carved. Perhaps these artifacts brought to us the memory of the pharaoh's wife.

Jer

This son of the sun god belongs to the 1st dynasty. He is supposed to have reigned for forty-seven years (2870-2823 BC). Not all the ancient pharaohs of Egypt could boast of a large number of innovations during their reign. However, Jer was one of the most ardent reformers. It is assumed that he had success in the military field. Researchers found a rock inscription on the west bank of the Nile. It depicts Jer, and in front of him is a captive man kneeling.

The tomb of the pharaoh, located in Abydos, is a large rectangular pit lined with bricks. The crypt was made of wood. Near the main burial site, 338 additional ones were found. It is assumed that servants and women from Djer's harem are buried in them. All of them, as required by tradition, were sacrificed after the burial of the king. Another 269 graves became the place of the last refuge of the nobles and courtiers of the pharaoh.

Den

This pharaoh ruled around 2950 AD. His personal name is Sepati (this became known thanks to the Abydos list). Some historians believe that it was this pharaoh who put on the double crown, symbolizing the unification of Egypt, for the first time. History says that he was the leader of military campaigns on From here it can be concluded that Den was set up for the further expansion of the Egyptian kingdom in this direction.

The pharaoh's mother was in a special position during the reign of her son. This is evidenced by the fact that she rests near the tomb of Den. Such an honor still needed to be awarded. In addition, it is assumed that Hemaka, the keeper of the state treasury, was also a highly respected person. On found ancient Egyptian labels, his name follows the name of the king. This is evidence of the special honor and trust of King Dan, who united Egypt.

The tombs of the pharaohs of that time were not distinguished by special architectural delights. However, the same cannot be said about Dan's tomb. So, an impressive staircase leads to his tomb (it goes to the east, directly towards the rising sun), and the crypt itself is decorated with red granite slabs.

Tutankhamen

The reign of this pharaoh is approximately 1332-1323 BC. e. Nominally, he began to rule the country at the age of ten. Naturally, the real power belonged to more experienced people - the courtier Aye and the commander Horemheb. During this period, the external position of Egypt was strengthened due to the pacification within the country. During the reign of Tutankhamun, the construction was intensified, as well as the restoration of the neglected and destroyed during the reign of the previous pharaoh - Akhenaten - the sanctuaries of the gods.

As was established during the anatomical studies of the mummy, Tutankhamun did not even live to be twenty years old. Two versions of his death are put forward: the fatal consequences of some kind of illness or complications after falling from the chariot. His tomb was found in the notorious Valley of the Kings near Thebes. It was practically not plundered by ancient Egyptian marauders. During the archaeological excavations, a great variety of precious jewelry, clothing items, and works of art were found. Truly unique finds were a bed, seats and a gilded chariot.

It is noteworthy that the aforementioned successors of the king - Eye and Horemheb - tried in every possible way to consign his name to oblivion, classifying Tutankhamun among the heretics.

Ramses I

This pharaoh is believed to have ruled from 1292 to 1290 BC. Historians identify him with Horemheb's temporary worker - a powerful commander and supreme dignitary Paramessu. The honorary position he occupied was as follows: "the head of all the horses of Egypt, the commandant of the fortresses, the caretaker of the Nile entrance, the envoy of the pharaoh, the charioteer of His Majesty, the royal clerk, the commander, the general priest of the Gods of the Two Lands." It is assumed that Pharaoh Ramses I (Ramses) is the successor of Horemheb himself. An image of his magnificent ascension to the throne has been preserved on the pylon.

According to Egyptologists, the reign of Ramesses I is not distinguished by either duration or significant events. He is most often mentioned in connection with the fact that the pharaohs of Egypt, Seti I and Ramesses II, were his direct descendants (son and grandson, respectively).

Cleopatra

This famous queen is a representative of the Macedonian. Her feelings for the Roman commander were truly dramatic. The years of Cleopatra's reign are infamous due to the Roman conquest of Egypt. The obstinate queen was so disgusted with the idea of being a prisoner (of the first Roman emperor) that she chose to commit suicide. Cleopatra is the most popular ancient character in literary works and films. Her reign took place in co-rulership with her brothers, and after that with Mark Anthony, her legal husband.

Cleopatra is considered the last independent pharaoh in ancient Egypt before the Romans conquered the country. She is often mistakenly called the last pharaoh, but this is not so. A love affair with Caesar brought her a son, and with Mark Antony a daughter and two sons.

The pharaohs of Egypt are most fully described in the works of Plutarch, Appian, Suetonius, Flavius and Cassius. Cleopatra, of course, also did not go unnoticed. In many sources, she is described as a depraved woman of extraordinary beauty. For a night with Cleopatra, many were ready to pay with their own lives. However, this ruler was smart and courageous enough to pose a threat to the Romans.

Conclusion

The pharaohs of Egypt (the names and biographies of some of them are presented in the article) contributed to the formation of a powerful state that lasted more than twenty-seven centuries. The fertile waters of the Nile contributed greatly to the rise and improvement of this ancient kingdom. Annual floods perfectly fertilized the soil and contributed to the maturation of a rich crop of grain. Due to the surplus of food, there was a significant increase in the population. The concentration of human resources, in turn, favored the creation and maintenance of irrigation canals, the formation of a large army, and the development of trade relations. In addition, mining, field geodesy and construction technologies were gradually mastered.

The society was controlled by the administrative elite, which was formed by priests and clerks. At the head, of course, was the pharaoh. The deification of the bureaucratic apparatus contributed to prosperity and order.

Today we can say with confidence that Ancient Egypt became the source of the great heritage of world civilization.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal Agency for Education

State educational institution higher vocational education

Kursk State University

Faculty of History

Department of General History

Course work on the topic of:

"Functions of the Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt"

Performed

3rd year student

Ivanova O. A.

Scientific adviser:

Associate Professor, Candidate of Historical Sciences

Ivanova O.S.

Introduction

Relevance of the topic: The question of the structure of ancient Eastern society is one of the most complex and controversial in Oriental studies. There is no doubt that by type of government Egypt is an oriental despotism. So, at the head of the state was a despot - a pharaoh. All Egyptologists agree that the pharaoh had great power and was revered as a god. However, practically no historian considers the functions of the pharaoh separately. The absence of a special study on this issue in domestic Egyptology determined the relevance of the topic of this work.

Goal of the work: Consider the functions of the pharaoh, as well as his economic position.

Tasks:

1) describe the activities of the pharaoh;

2) to characterize the economic and everyday situation of the pharaoh.

Sources: The main sources on this topic are literary works.

"Biography of the nobleman Una" - a hieroglyphic inscription on the slab of a dignitary - a contemporary of the pharaohs of the IV dynasty Teti II, Piopi II, Merenra I (mid XXV century BC - early XXIV century BC). This source provides valuable information about the judicial system and court life.

"The Wanderings of Sinuhet" - a court novel of the 20th century. BC. Most complete lists of this work are preserved on two hieratic papyri of the Middle Kingdom. Although Sinuhet's Wanderings is a work of fiction, it provides important information about court life in the Middle Kingdom. Especially valuable is the material concerning the audience of Sinuhet with the pharaoh.

Historiography. There are many scientific works devoted to the history of ancient Egypt. But not all authors consider the direct activities of the pharaoh. However, some authors, describing one or another side of the life of Egyptian society, refer to the pharaoh and his position. Some of the works of foreign Egyptologists were available to us.

The work of D. Breasted and B. Turaev "History of Ancient Egypt" gives a clear and complete picture of the history of ancient Egypt on the basis of the material available to researchers of the 19th century. Some conclusions of the authors are outdated, but the factual material presented retains its value. Modern historiography revised a number of provisions of their concept. The authors in chronological order give a description of each period of the reign of the pharaohs, and characterize their activities.

P. Monte in the book "Egypt of the Ramses" gives a broad description of all aspects of life in Egypt throughout its history. All segments of the population are considered separately, starting from their occupations and ending with everyday life. Particularly valuable material relating to the description appearance pharaoh and his personal life.

O. Eger in his four-volume work World History pays only a little attention to Ancient Egypt, but the factual material cited by the author is very valuable.

In the book by B. Mertz "Ancient Egypt. Temples, tombs, hieroglyphs." the religious side of the life of the ancient Egyptians is comprehensively considered. It is especially important that the author examines in detail the activities of the pharaohs-reformers.

Our theme has found some reflection in Russian historiography.

In the "Culture of Ancient Egypt", edited by I. S. Katsnelson, all aspects of the life of Egyptian society are considered. The book was written by a group of authors. All authors provide valuable descriptive material.

In the work of E.A. Razin "History of military art of the XXXI century BC-VI century AD." only a small section is devoted to the army of ancient Egypt. For us, the material relating to the participation of the pharaohs in the command of the troops is of interest.

"Interstate Relations and Diplomacy in the Ancient East" edited by I. A. Struchevsky considers in great detail the diplomatic relations of Ancient Egypt with all the countries most influential in the East at that time.

Yu.A. Perepelkin in his work "History of Ancient Egypt" considers the history of ancient Egypt and the population at the modern level of Egyptology. The author gives an idea of the functions of the pharaoh.

Textbook on the history of the Ancient East, ed. V.A. Kuzishchina helps to compose general idea about the historical, political and economic situation of ancient Egypt.

Chapter I. Functions of the Pharaoh

1. Economic function

Egypt is the gift of the Nile. Throughout the entire period of the existence of the country, irrigated agriculture was the main branch of agriculture. Therefore, concern for the expansion and preservation of irrigation canals was important and obligatory for the king. Pharaoh had to deal with the organization of labor-intensive irrigation work. King Ramesses IV, informing all the inhabitants of Egypt about his good deeds during his reign, calls on the people to follow the orders and orders of his son and successor: "Do all sorts of work for him! Drag monuments for him! Dig canals for him! Do work for him with your hands! ". The digging of canals was considered by the tsar to be one of the largest state works.

2. Political and administrative function

Over all the financial management was the "chief treasurer", who, of course, lived at the court, and gave the pharaoh an annual financial report.

3. Administration function

So, a certain official tells about his dark origin as follows: "You will talk about it with each other and the old men will teach them young men. I came from a poor family and from a small city, but the lord of Both Countries (the king) appreciated me. I took a great place in his heart. The king, the likeness of the sun god, in the splendor of his palace looked upon me. He elevated me above (royal) comrades, introducing me into the midst of court princes ... he instructed me to carry out work when I was a youth, he found me, the news of me reached his heart. I was brought into the house of gold to make the figures and images of all the gods."

The reward was not only jewelry, but also slaves, most often captured in battle. Horses were a special prize.

No matter how high was the official position of the pharaoh as the august god at the head of the state, he nevertheless maintained close personal relations with the most prominent representatives of the nobility. As a prince, he was brought up with a group of young men from noble families, and together they learned the noble art of swimming. Friendships that began in this way in youth were to have a powerful influence on the monarch in the subsequent years of his life. There were cases when the pharaoh gave his daughter as a wife to one of the nobles with whom he was brought up in his youth. And then the strict etiquette of the palace was violated for the sake of this favorite: on official occasions, he was not supposed to kiss the ashes of the pharaoh's feet, but enjoyed the unprecedented honor of kissing the king's foot. Since the matter concerned those close to him, it was a mere formality; in private, the pharaoh sat simply, without any hesitation, next to one of his favorites, while attendant slaves anointed them both without hesitation. The daughter of such a noble person could become the official queen and mother of the next king.

4. Foreign policy, military function and diplomacy

Nubia brought Egypt the most trouble during the Middle Kingdom. The young pharaoh Senusret I personally led the troops, which "infiltrated Waawat to Korosko, the terminus of the road through the desert ... and captured many prisoners among the Majais in the country lying on the other side." Work was also resumed in the Hammamat quarries, in addition, "troglodytes, Asians and inhabitants of the sands" were punished. Later, under his personal leadership, a campaign was carried out in the country of Kush.

Under the warlike Senusret III, the Egyptians invade Syria for the first time. One of his military associates named Sebekhu mentions in his memorial plate in Abydos that he accompanied the king during a campaign in Retenu (Syria), in the area called Sekmim. .

All issues relating to war and peace were decided by the pharaoh himself. Pharaoh Psammetich II was in Tanis and was engaged in charitable deeds when he was informed that the Negro Kuar had raised his sword against Egypt.

During the first period of the empire, Egypt was at the center of world politics. In Asia, the dominion of Amenhotep III was universally recognized; even the Babylonian court did not dispute his supremacy in Syria and Palestine. When the kings tried to involve the Babylonian king Kurigaltsu in an alliance directed against the pharaoh, he sent them a categorical refusal on the grounds that he was in alliance with the pharaoh: “Stop plotting an alliance with me. If you are plotting hostility against the king of Egypt, my brother, and If you want to unite with anyone, shall I not go out and destroy you, for he (Pharaoh) is in alliance with me? . All powers - Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni and Alasia (Cyprus) - did everything to gain the friendship of Egypt.

We see that the foreign policy of the pharaohs was extremely diverse, and it did not differ much from the modern foreign policy of modern states.

5. Legislative, judicial functions

Egypt was a highly developed country in all areas, including the legal one. But not a single complete code of laws has come down to us. Undoubtedly, the pharaoh was the main lawmaker in Egypt.

Several decrees of Pharaoh Seti I in favor of the temple of Osiris have been preserved, in which severe punishments are established for plundering the property of the temple. D. G. Reder believes that the usual punishments of the current legislation turned out to be insufficient, and emergency measures had to be resorted to.

There is an image of Ramesses II, where he is sitting on the throne, telling his seal keeper: "Call on the nobles who are waiting in front of [the reception hall] so that I can hear their opinion about this country. I myself will consider this matter."

The meeting is over. It remains only to get to work. The pharaoh will be kept up to date at all times. On a granite stele, it will later testify to the success of this enterprise.

No matter how powerful the vizier was, the people turned to him as to a person endowed with the highest judicial powers and able to restore trampled justice; his position was by tradition the most popular in the long line of the pharaoh's servants. The people looked to him as their great protector, and the highest praise for Amon in the mouth of his admirer was to call him "the vizier of the poor, who does not take bribes from the guilty." His appointment was considered so important that it was made by the king himself. When appointed to a new position, the tsar tells the vizier that he must behave like one who "does not tilt his face towards princes and advisers, and also does not make the whole people his brothers"; and he says again: "It is a distaste for God to show affection. This is the instruction: you will do the same, you will look at the one who is known to you as well as the one who is unknown to you, and the one who is close. Also, as well as one who is far away... Such an official will prosper greatly in his place... Do not inflame with anger against a person unjustly... But inspire fear in yourself, let them fear you, for only that prince is the prince who is feared. Here, the true fear of the prince is to do justice. If people do not know who you are, they will not say: he is only a man. Likewise, the subordinates of the vizier must be just people; so the tsar advises the new vizier: "Here, they should talk about the chief scribe of the vizier:" A just scribe - they should talk about him ". In a country where the bribery of the court begins already with the lower employees, who are encountered before reaching the highest officials, such "justice" was truly necessary. So great was the respect for the people who occupied this high office that the words "life, prosperity, health" were sometimes added to the vizier's name, which, in fact, should have accompanied only the name of the pharaoh or the prince of the royal house.

The punishment of condemned criminals was appointed by the pharaoh, and therefore the relevant documents were sent to him for resolution, while the victims awaited their fate in imprisonment.

"Wanderings of Sinuhet" is the only case known to us when the pharaoh pardoned the guilty. The narrator described in detail how it all happened. Pharaoh not only forgave Sinuhet, gave him gifts and allowed him to return to his homeland, but also wanted to look at him. Our hero has come to the border outpost of the Path of Horus. He distributed gifts received from the royal court to his nomad friends and trusted the guards who brought him by ship to the residence of Ichi-taui. Everyone in the palace had been warned in advance. The royal children gathered in the guardroom. The courtiers, whose duty it was to escort visitors to the hall of columns, showed Sinuhet the way, and now the sinning subject appeared before the sovereign, who sat on the ceremonial throne in the gilded hall. Sinuhet prostrates before him on the floor. He is aware of the gravity of his offense, and horror seizes him: "I was like one covered in darkness. My soul disappeared, my body weakened, and there was no more heart in my chest, and I did not distinguish life from death."

The pharaoh could be considered a god, the legitimate son of Amun, but this did not save him from enemies. Special cases of a private nature were "heard" by the chief judge and the judge "at Nekhen"; in one case, when a conspiracy arose in the harem, the accused queen appeared before two judges "at Nekhen", specially appointed for this by the crown, and among them was not the pharaoh himself - the supreme judge.

In the "Biography of the nobleman Una" a description of the process against the king's wife Urethetes is given. "The case was conducted in the royal women's house against the wife of King Urethetes in secret. His Majesty ordered me (the nobleman) to go down to conduct an interrogation alone, and there was not a single chief judge - a riding dignitary, not a single [other] dignitary except me alone, since I used the order and was pleasing to his majesty and since his majesty relied on me. It was I who kept the record alone with one judge and the mouth of Nekhen, and my position was [only] the head of the palace hentiu-she ".

Towards the end of the reign of Ramesses III, one of his wives, named Tii, conceived to pass the crown of the old pharaoh to her son, whom the Turin papyrus calls Pen-taur, although this was not his real name. She agreed with the chief administrator of the palace Pabakikamun ("Blind Servant"). It is not known how the pharaoh destroyed their plot. It is only known that the main instigators and their assistants were arrested, and with them all those who knew about their despicable plans and did not inform the pharaoh about this. Judges were appointed: two treasurers, a fan-bearer, four butlers, and one herald. The pharaoh preferred people from his entourage to ordinary judges. In a preliminary speech at the trial, the beginning of which has not been preserved, he says that no one will be spared.

6. Religious function

Here, for example, is the prayer and confession of Ramesses III: "Glory to you, gods and goddesses, lords of heaven, earth, waters! Your steps on the boat of millions of years are wide next to your father Ra, whose heart rejoices when he sees your perfection, sending down happiness the country of Ta-meri... He rejoices, he grows younger, seeing how great you are in heaven and mighty on earth, watching how you give air to breathless nostrils. I am your son, created by your two hands. You made me a ruler may he be alive, unharmed and healthy, of the whole earth. You have created perfection for me on earth. I do my duty in peace. My heart is tirelessly looking for what is necessary and useful for your sanctuaries. By my commands, written in every office, I give them men and lands, livestock and ships Their barges sail the Nile I have made your sanctuaries prosperous which were in decline I have instituted divine offerings for you besides those for you I have worked for you in your houses of gold with gold, silver, lapis lazuli and turquoise. I have been watching over your treasures. I made up for them with numerous things. I have filled your bins with barley and wheat, I have built for you fortresses, sanctuaries, cities. Your names are carved there forever. I have increased the number of your employees by adding many people to them. I have not taken from you a man, not a dozen people in an army, and in ship crews from those in the sanctuaries of the gods, since the kings built them. I issued decrees to be eternal on earth for the kings who come after me. I have sacrificed all sorts of good things for you. I have built you warehouses for the festivities, filled them with food. I have made for you millions of ornamented vessels of gold, silver and copper. I have built for you boats that float on the river, with their great dwellings sheathed in gold."

"This is a beneficent king, for he does work for all the gods, erecting temples for them and carving their images." So Thutmose III decided to expand the Temple of Karnak. “At the end of February, on the feast of the new moon, which coincided by a happy coincidence with the day of the tenth feast of Amon, he could personally celebrate the laying ceremony with the greatest splendor. God appeared as a good omen and even took a personal part in measuring the future area of the temple with a rope.

In addition to the construction of temples and sanctuaries, many pharaohs for some time were also the high priests of the main god.

"Be grateful to him, for he called you!" - says the pharaoh in conclusion.

Then the pharaoh gave the new high priest two gold rings and a staff of gilded silver. All Egypt was informed that henceforth all the possessions and affairs of Amon were in the hands of Nebunenef.

Another duty of the ruler was to expand the domain of the god.

To be a pharaoh, one must not only be born in the family of a king, but also have a huge supply of energy and knowledge.

Chapter II. The private life of the pharaoh

For a long time of the existence of Egypt, as a state, a strict etiquette developed at the court of the pharaoh, following which was mandatory for everyone. For example, no one was allowed to call the pharaoh by name. The courtier preferred to designate it as the impersonal "They", and "bring to Their attention" becomes the official formula instead of the phrase "report to the king". The tsarist government and personally the monarch himself were designated by the word " Big house", in Egyptian "Per-o", is an expression that has come down to us through the Jews in the form of "Pharaoh". There were also a number of other expressions that a scrupulous courtier could use when talking about his divine master.

From court customs, a complex official etiquette was gradually developed, the strict observance of which was monitored by many magnificent marshals and court chamberlains, who were constantly in the palace for this. Thus, a court life arose, probably similar to that which is now in the East.

For every need of the royal person there was a special court nobleman, whose duty was to satisfy it, and who bore the corresponding title, for example, court physician or court bandmaster. Despite the relatively simple toilet of the king, a whole small army of wigmakers, sandal makers, perfumers, laundries, bleachers and keepers of the royal wardrobe crowded the pharaoh's chambers. They bring their titles on their tombstones with visible satisfaction. Thus, if we take one of the examples, one of them calls himself "the caretaker of the cosmetic box, who knows the art of cosmetics to the satisfaction of his master, the caretaker of the cosmetic pencil, who knows everything concerning the royal sandals, to the satisfaction of his master."

The royal attire not only exceeded the luxury of the attire of "princes", dignitaries and senior military leaders of the army - it had to correspond to the divine essence of His Majesty. The pharaoh never appeared with his head uncovered, and even in the family circle he wore a wig. He cut his hair short to wear different wigs, the simplest of which is round with a diadem attached at the back and pendants descending to the back of the head. The diadem was wrapped around a golden uraeus (cobra), whose head with a swollen neck rose above the middle of the forehead. Ceremonial headdresses were crowns of the South and North and a double crown. The first looked like a high pin-shaped cap, the second - like an elongated mortar with a straight arrow behind, from the base of which a metal band, rounded at the end, extended upwards. The double crown was a combination of the first two. In addition, the pharaoh willingly put on, especially during military parades and in war, an elegant and simple blue helmet with uraea and two ribbons at the back of the head. The "nemee" (special royal scarf) was large enough to hide a round wig. It was made of fabric, encircled the forehead, descended from both sides of the face to the chest and formed an acute-angled pocket at the back. "Numee", as a rule, was white with red stripes. It was prepared in advance. It was fixed on the head with a golden ribbon, which was simply necessary when the pharaoh placed a double crown, the crown of the South or the crown of the North, on top of the "nemes". In addition, two feathers or an "atef" crown were installed on the "nemes": a cap of Upper Egypt with two high feathers placed on the horns of a ram, between which a golden disc sparkled, framed by two uraeus crowned with the same golden discs. It is quite obvious that such headdresses were intended only for such ceremonies, when the pharaoh was sitting absolutely still.

Another indispensable accessory of ceremonial decoration is a false beard, braided into a pigtail, like the inhabitants of Punt, the Land of God. This false beard was connected to the wig by two garters. Usually the pharaoh shaved off his beard and mustache, but sometimes left a short square beard.

The main part of the pharaoh's attire, like all Egyptians, was a loincloth, but the royal one was made pleated. She held on to a wide belt with a metal buckle, with excellently executed hieroglyphs in the royal cartouche in front and an ox-tail at the back. Sometimes an apron in the form of a trapezoid was tied to the belt. This apron was entirely of precious metal, or strands of beads stretched over a frame. On both sides, the apron was decorated with uraei crowned with solar disks. The pharaoh did not hesitate to go barefoot, but he had a lot of sandals - leather, metal or woven from cane.

Jewelry and ornaments complete this decoration. The pharaoh wore a variety of necklaces. Most often, they were strung gold plates, balls and beads with a flat clasp at the back, from which a very beautiful gold tassel of chains with flowers descended. Such necklaces appeared shortly before the era of the Ramesses. The classic necklace consisted of a series of strands of beads and a clasp in the form of two falcon heads and was tied at the back with two cords. The beads of the last bottom row were drop-shaped, the rest were round or oval. These necklaces sometimes weighed up to several kilograms. In addition, the pharaoh hung a pectoral in the shape of a temple facade around his neck on a double gold chain and put on at least three pairs of bracelets: one on the forearm, the second on the wrist, and the third on the ankles. And sometimes, on top of all these decorations, he put on a long transparent tunic with short sleeves and the same transparent belt tied in front.

The pharaoh lived in a palace, of which there were most often several. The pharaohs of the first dynasties preferred to build palaces of a rectangular shape. The house was divided into two halves, service and living: a reception hall, the ceiling of which was supported by two columns, a side gatehouse and a long hall with a column connecting the side rooms with living quarters. In a later period, they began to build houses according to an asymmetric plan, which consisted of four parts: the master's room, the harem, the servants' quarters, as well as utility and office premises.

The material for them was wood and sun-dried brick; the buildings were made lightly and included, according to the climate, a lot of air. They had many lattice windows, and all the walls in the living rooms were, to a large extent, simple shields, similar to those found in many Japanese houses. In the event of wind and sandstorms, brightly colored curtains could be lowered.

So that the pharaoh could enjoy the coolness, so necessary in hot Egypt, the palace was surrounded by magnificent gardens and ponds of various sizes and shapes. At the royal estate of Maru-Aton on the southern outskirts of El Amarna, eleven reservoirs in the shape of the letter T formed a cascade. A huge, but not deep pond was made in the park of the estate, there were many trees, which were carefully looked after. The park also had a small pond with blooming lotuses and thickets of papyrus, an island with elegant pavilions.

The atmosphere in the palace was magnificent. Beds, armchairs, chairs, and caskets of ebony, inlaid with ivory of the finest workmanship, constituted the most important pieces of furniture. Most likely there were no tables, but precious vessels made of alabaster and other valuable stones, copper, and sometimes gold and silver, were placed on stands and racks that raised them above the floor. The floors were covered with heavy carpets, on which guests often sat, especially the ladies, who preferred them to armchairs and chairs. The food was exquisite and varied; we find that even the deceased desired in the other world "ten different kinds of meat, five kinds of poultry, sixteen kinds of bread and biscuits, six kinds of wine, four kinds of beer, eleven kinds of fruit, not counting all sorts of sweets and many other things."

In his free time, the pharaoh liked to hunt. He had only to wish, and he could fight beyond the Euphrates or south of the great rapids with ferocious animals that were no longer in the deserts that flank the valley of the Egyptian Nile.

So, Pharaoh Menkheperra once met in the Euphrates valley, in the town of Niy, a herd of one hundred and twenty wild elephants. The battle with them began in the water. "Never has a pharaoh done anything like this since the time of the gods!" The largest elephant turned out to be opposite the pharaoh and could trample him. But he was saved by his old comrade in arms, Amenemheb. He cut off the monster's trunk. His master praised him and rewarded him with gold. Amenemheb told about this memorable hunt in his short story.

In Medinet Habu, a relief has been preserved in which Ramesses III hunts a lion, a wild buffalo and an antelope.

The pharaoh had a large family. The beloved wife of the pharaoh was the official queen, and her eldest son was usually appointed heir to the royal throne even during the life of his father. But, as in all eastern courts, there was also a royal harem with many odalisques. A mass of sons usually surrounded the monarch, and the huge income of the palace was generously distributed among them. One of the sons of the king of the IV dynasty Khafre left behind private property, which consisted of 14 cities, one city house and two possessions in the royal residence-city at the pyramid. In addition, the provision of his tomb consisted of 12 other cities. But the princes did not idle and luxurious life, but helped their father in management.

In addition, the prince also had to be very strong in order to lead soldiers into battle on a military campaign. The father taught the future Ramesses II and his comrades to difficult exercises, to the ability to overcome fatigue. None of them received a crumb until they ran one hundred and eighty stadia. Therefore, they all became real athletes.

We learn about the exploits of Amenhotep II from a memorial stele. They said about him: “He reached his prime at the age of eighteen. By that time he knew all the exploits of Montu. He had no equal on the battlefield. And he learned the art of driving horses. He had no equal in the entire large army. who could draw his bow. And no one could catch up with him in the run."

In general, a real athlete. He practiced at once in three types: rowing, archery and equestrian sports.

“His hand was powerful and tireless when he held the steering oar at the stern of his royal ship with a team of two hundred people. At the end of the distances, when his people sailed half the distance, they could no longer swim, they were suffocating, their hands were like rags. And his majesty, on the contrary, firmly held his oar, twenty cubits long. The royal vessel moored, having passed three aturas without stopping. People watched and rejoiced."

Then there were archery competitions. "He (Akheperura) pulled three hundred bows in order to compare them and distinguish the product of the master from the work of the ignorant." Having chosen a real, flawless bow, which no one could pull except him, the prince appeared at the shooting range: “He saw that he was given four targets of Asian copper a span thick. Twenty cubits separated one target from another. When his majesty the pharaoh appeared on chariot, like the mighty Montu, he grabbed his bow, grabbed four arrows at once and started shooting like Montu. The first arrow came out from the other side of the target. Then he aimed at the other. It was a shot like no one else had ever heard of : an arrow pierced copper and fell on the other side to the ground. Only a king, mighty and strong, whom Amon created a winner, could do such a thing.

The Hyksos brought more than just trouble to Egypt. It was they who brought horses to Egypt. The pharaohs appreciated these beautiful animals, and the royal stables were filled with thousands of magnificent horses.

Ramesses III did not even trust his commanders and himself made sure that his horses were well-groomed and ready for battle. He came to the great palace stable with a staff in one hand and a whip in the other. He was accompanied by servants with umbrellas and fans and soldiers on duty. There was a signal about the arrival of the pharaoh. The grooms jumped up and rushed to their places. Each grabbed the reins of his pair of horses. Pharaoh examined them one by one.

To live in such splendor, the pharaoh needed funds. First, there was an extensive palace economy. According to Perepelkin, managing it was no different from managing the economy of a nobleman. The possessions of rich people, to whom the pharaoh belonged, were scattered throughout the country. For the general management of management, a household manager was needed - a housekeeper. He headed the "government of his own house." It also included the keeper of the statements, scribes, measurer and grain counter. The pharaoh's possessions were divided into separate settlements: "yards" and "villages". They were headed by a manager. He was responsible for the economy, was present at all the work and reported to the "uprava".

In addition, the nobleman's "own house" included handicraft production. As Yu. A. Perepelkin writes: "Some of its branches were willingly united into multi-craft workshops, but weaving and food production stood out as separate branches." Handicraft industries were subordinate to their superiors, they were not under the jurisdiction of the rulers. But, despite the unification, individual crafts had their own premises and their bosses.

Food workshops simultaneously served as warehouses for ready-made supplies. There were their own administrators, who reported to the council or scribes of "their own house."

Animals were raised in the royal household. These were cows being milked and magnificent bulls being fattened for slaughter. According to I. S. Katsnelson, during the New Kingdom, such bulls were branded. The great economic importance of cattle was reflected in the deification of the cow in the image of the sky goddess Hathor. In addition to cattle, the pharaoh's farm raised goats, long-maned sheep, bred birds and fish.

The pharaoh's treasury was in charge of the southern vizier. Most Pharaoh received income in the form of taxes. The size of the tax depended on the height of the flood of the Nile, and, accordingly, on the amount of the expected harvest. Viceroy ancient city El-Kaba, for example, contributed annually to the vizier about 5600 grams of gold, 4200 grams of silver, 1 bull, and one "two-year-old", while his subordinate paid 4200 grams of silver, a necklace of gold beads, two bulls and two boxes of linen. This is taken from a list in the tomb of the vizier Rehmir in Thebes. Every year, the pharaoh was paid about 220,000 grams of gold, 9 gold necklaces, over 16,000 grams of silver, about 40 boxes and other measures of linen, 106 head of cattle, including calves, and some grain.

He received part of it in the form of various incomes: income from the gold mines of Nubia, funds from the sale, rich gifts from nomarchs or dependent rulers.

The pharaoh received huge funds from conquest expeditions. So D. Breasted gives a list of booty after the conquest of Megiddo by Thutmose III: "924 chariots, including those that belonged to the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo, 2238 horses, 200 weapons, luxurious tents of the king of Kadesh, about 2000 heads of cattle and 22,500 heads of small cattle. Magnificent the home furnishings of the king of Kadesh, and including his royal scepter, a silver statue, an ivory statue of the king himself covered in gold and lapis lazuli, a vast amount of gold and silver."

These funds were enough not only for the maintenance of magnificent palaces, a huge staff of servants, for the rich attire of the pharaoh and his family. But there was plenty of money left for the construction of rich burials, for luxurious gifts to those close to him, and, simply, for a “fun life”. However, even such wealth could end if it was not increased, which was what the great pharaohs, or their great viziers, did.

Conclusion

Throughout the history of ancient Egypt, the head of state was the pharaoh. He had unlimited power, and it was she who demanded direct participation in the affairs of government. However, the participation of the ruler in state affairs most often depended on the personality of the pharaoh. If the king was smart and hardworking, then a huge amount of work fell to his lot. Under strong and powerful kings, Egypt prospered. His economic and political position was stable. If the king did not want to govern, then it was enough for him to find a devoted and capable person for the position of vizier. The appointment of officials and nomarchs depended only on the will of the pharaoh.

Not the last role was played by the commander's talent of the ruler. It was in battles and conquests that the names of the pharaohs were glorified.

However, no one could replace the pharaoh in the performance of religious duties. The main duty of the whole life of the pharaoh is to carry out proper service to the cults of the supreme gods of Egypt.

In order for the pharaoh to adequately fulfill the difficult duties of governing Egypt, he needed rest. The king was surrounded by luxury and divine reverence. The ruler received funds for this from a variety of sources. It was the independence of the receipt of some income from others that made the pharaoh relatively independent in the economic situation.

Bibliography

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Breasted D., Turaev B. Decree. op. S. 185.

Monte P. Egypt of the Ramses. Smolensk, 2000, p. 236.

Cit. by: Breasted D., Turaev B. Decree. op. S. 267.

Eger O. World history: T. 1. Ancient world. M., 2000. S. 27.

Cit. Quoted from: Interstate Relations and Diplomacy in the Ancient East. / Rev. ed. I. A. Struchevsky. M., 1987. S. 50.

Monte P. Decree. op. S. 258.

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