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The Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE)

December 06, 2020

Today is my last day in Egypt. I have gathered all the information I needed on the 18th dynasty and I feel that now it's appropriate to leave. The 18th Dynasty of Egypt has ended and it has now entered its 19th Dynasty. My goal of recording the period of the 18th Dynasty has been completed. However, I felt that I should at least see what is happening in the 19th Dynasty. I found out that the new Pharoah, Ramses II, has just concluded a battle for Kadesh. I decided that it would be appropriate to record this event as I would let my readers compare the 18th dynasty to the 19th dynasty. I wanted to find a recount of the battle, so I went to one of the temples nearby. Apparently, Ramses had the transcript of the battle written onto the walls of the Karnak Temple. What I read was very interesting. The text spoke of the glory of Ramses II in this battle. The text spoke in detail of Egypt's total victory over the Hittites, detailing how they defeat...

Akhentep and Atun (1330 BCE)

December 05, 2020

Egyptian religion has changed completely. The current ruler right now is named Amenhotep IV, and he has put in radical changes for the religion of Egypt. In my years of being a historian, I've never seen a civilization adopt this religion with such complacency. Amenhotep IV has turned Egypt from a polytheistic civilization to a monotheistic civilization, in which they worship one single god by the name of Aten. I wanted to find out more about this new religion. So I went to the new capital, which Amenhotep IV has changed, Amarna. I went to the city square to ask about this new religion they adopted, and the response was interesting. To these people, the new god Aten is their everything. They referred to Amenhotep IV as Akhenaten and they believe Aten is a sun god that bestows light and life to the world. Apparently, this new religion removed the general publics' direct access to these deities. One local told me that this was to equal the ro...

Thutmose III and the battle of Megiddo (1457 BCE)

December 04, 2020

The year is 1457 BCE, Thutmose III is now the new Pharoah and his goals seem to be focused on the military expansion of Egypt. I would have never thought that I would experience a battle, yet here I am. I believe this battle is called the "Battle of Megiddo". It seems that the battle involves the King of Kadesh, and the goal is a territorial expansion for Egypt. This is truly an interesting sight. To better understand why this battle is being fought, I thought to learn more about Thutmose III. It turns out that Thutmose III claimed the throne when he was 10 years old, but since he was too young Hatshepsut took the reins instead. I also found out that Thutmose III erased Hatshepsut from all records as if she never existed. It seems that instead of Hatshepsut's approach to ruling, Thutmose III wanted to expand the power of Egypt. He enacted different campaigns to expand Egypt's land and power. This would explain the reason for the Battle of M...

Hatshepsut (1460 B.C.E)

December 03, 2020

After conducting research in the area, I can conclude that Hatshepsut is a rather interesting Pharoah. How the locals described her birth is rather interesting and reflects their beliefs and religion. From what I can gather, Hatshepsut was created by Khnum, the creator god, and her birth was in the presence of the god Amun and the goddess Mesekhnet, in which the goddess gave Hatshepsut her blessing. I can see why Hatshepsut's power was uncontested and how she has great prominence, as it seems that she is diving, being born from gods. This provided great insight into the religion and is something that I will note down in my travels. After learning about her birth, I wanted to learn of her accomplishments in the region and what she provided for Egypt. Her main accomplishments were planning buildings for the gods, leading military expeditions, and organizing long-distance trade. I wanted to see what exactly she built so I did some research on what s...

Arriving in Egypt (1460 B.C.E)

December 02, 2020

I have finally arrived in Egypt! It took me a while, but my trek was finally over. The year is 1460 B.C.E and I'm excited to take in what Egypt has to offer. My first order of business was to familiarize myself with the culture of Egyptian civilization, as I feel that it's important to understand the happenings that may occur. I asked a local how they view the afterlife, and their response was very interesting. The Egyptian people have a burial practice called "Mummification" in which they take out a corpse's guts, dry it, bandage it, then put it into a tomb. They do this with their pharaohs and it's so that they may go to the afterlife and that their physical body achieves immortality. It was very interesting to learn. I wanted to see where the Egyptian people buried their dead. The local told me to go see the pyramids. I've never seen anything like this. In fact, I was shocked at how they even built it. The...

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