§-Quick questions
NSWAncient HistorySection IV (Historical Periods): New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV
Quick questions on Power, authority and historiography in New Kingdom Egypt: HSC Ancient History
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the army?Show answer
The New Kingdom inherited and mastered the military technology of the Hyksos period - the horse-drawn chariot, the composite bow and bronze weapons such as the khepesh (sickle-sword) - and built a permanent, professional force organised into divisions under the king as commander-in-chief. This army created the empire: Thutmose I reached the Euphrates, Thutmose III fought seventeen campaigns and won the Battle of Megiddo (c. 1457 BC), and Amenhotep II held the Levantine and Nubian territories whose tribute and booty flowed back to Egypt.
What is the bureaucracy?Show answer
Egypt was administered by a literate scribal class headed by two viziers, one for Upper and one for Lower Egypt. The vizier's sweeping responsibilities - justice, taxation, land, appointments - are set out in the "Duties of the Vizier," a text preserved in the Theban tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), vizier under Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. Empire added a provincial layer: the Viceroy of Kush (the "King's Son of Kush") governed Nubia and its gold, while the treasury and granary officials managed the incoming wealth.
What is the priesthood of Amun?Show answer
As the kings promoted the Theban god Amun into Amun-Re, "King of the Gods," and credited him with their victories, they endowed his temple at Karnak with a growing share of tribute, land, captives and booty. The priesthood delivered the god's endorsement of the king and, in return, accumulated wealth and personnel on a scale that made it a great institution in its own right (see the crown-Amun relationship below).
What is the royal women?Show answer
Authority in this dynasty was also female. Queen mothers such as Ahhotep (honoured for helping defend Egypt in the war of liberation) and Ahmose-Nefertari were powerful figures, and the King's Great Wife secured the legitimacy of the succession. Crucially, the office of God's Wife of Amun (Hemet-netjer en Amun) was endowed early in the dynasty for Ahmose-Nefertari with its own estates and income, giving a royal woman a permanent, wealthy institutional role in the cult of the state god.
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.