On Predynastic/General Ancient Egyptian Chronology

I find it interesting that most of the documented chronology of Ancient Egypt come from the various different reigns of Pharaohs.  Because these documented reigns are official and royal, there were definitely political and/ or religious biases.  These biases greatly affect our knowledge of Ancient Egypt today.  For instance, in the Tjenry list, it lists 58 kings from the first to the ninth dynasty, but omits those who reigned from the Second Intermediate Period and rulers, the Hyksos, who had close relations with Akhenaten.  Also, the Seti I king list has 76 ancestors of this Seti I’s lline, but excludes the names of Pharoahs who were removed for political reasons.  Seti I also omitted certain rulers who were viewed as unpopular in later times.  During the phase of Naqata III,The Pharoah who was credited for the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt King Narmer, was depicted in the the  Narmer Palette.  It shows him conquering Buto in Lower Egypt.  T
here may have been others who contributed to the unification, but we only know of King Narmer because he was in power at the time.Also, the royal and the wealthy’s artifacts contribute greatly to the lifestyles of Ancient Egyptians.  Whenever I think of Ancient Egypt, I automatically think of the extravagant tombs that were used for burials.  However, those are the artifacts of only the Pharaohs and royal Egyptians, and not the burial practices of the commoners.

 

As a great amount of history and culture is controlled by the rich and powerful, so is today’s history.  For instance, the chronology of our U.S. history is definitely written by the winners.  For instance, the treatment toward the original natives of North America and uprooting them from their land was not really discussed in my U.S. history classes.  Today, we celebrate Columbus Day and memorize dates chronologically, without understanding the whole historical context of a certain date.  Luckily, with archaeology, the research and discoveries helps us to grasp a better understanding of what really happened and of the lives of the majority of the population, then just from who created a timeline of history.

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