Discussion Questions for Race and Ethnicity in Ancient North Africa

 

 

 

2-25

1. From both Bowman (and recall Herodotus, if possible), what are several ways that the lifestyles of the Egyptian people were completely linked to the Nile river?

 

2. Consider both Bowman's (and, if possible, Herodotus') comments about agricultural practices and production in Egypt.

 

3. Comment on the bits of evidence given for Greeks adapting to Egyptian customs and language in paragraphs 1 and 2 on page 124. Why is this significant?

 

4. Considering the 4 quotations of documents given on pages 126-128, what can we determine about the shifting class structure and legal privileges existing for Egyptians under Roman rule?

 

5. How do Egyptian customs show in the family and property issues on pp. 131-134?

 

6. Note the similarities and differences between our modern conceptions of love, sexuality  and marriage and those revealed about Egypt on pp. 134-136.

 

7. Consider the housing situation for average Egyptians as discussed on pp. 146-50. [Look at the pictures as well]

 

8. Discuss diet, health and physical possessions evidence for Egyptians on pp. 150-53.

 

9. Explain the full meaning and implications of illiteracy among Egyptians on pp. 158-159. What were Egyptians reading in native demotic (pp. 163-64)?

 

 

2-18

1. In what ways did Alexander and the early Ptolemies up to Philopator (d. 205 BCE) address Egypt and Egyptians with some terms and policies designed to win over the native population (see Watterson pp. 193-198? What were some of the negative reactions from Egyptians up to this point, including comment on the Battle of Raphia?

 

NOTE how even under the Ptolemies the classic rivalries between Syria and Egypt over the Levant continued.

 

2. In regards to the PtolemiesÕ style and process of administration, how did they show their separation from their Egyptian subjects soon after Ptolemy I Soter took the role of pharaoh (Watterson 209-210)? How does this show that bureaucratic efficiency can be both progressive and oppressive? (see also question 7 below)

 

3. What are several of the prominent features of the Ptolemaic Egyptian economy? What were its successes and its shortcomings? It should be noted that Ptolemaic Egypt may have attained population levels not matched again there until the late 19th century.

 

4. How did the Greek leaders find ways to promote Egyptian religion in ways that would sometimes appeal to these groups individually and at other times across the ethnic divide? What themes appear in native Egyptian demotic literature that show Egyptians connecting with their own glorious past?

 

5. How do Ptolemaic temples begin to tell structurally how the Ptolemies promoted their roles as protectors of Egypt? How did they integrate these messages into the orientation and decoration of temples as microcosms of Egypt (Watterson 224-225).

 

6. NOTE ALL REMAINING QUESTIONS are from Bowman Egypt after the Pharaohs linked on your website and here: 29-32, 56-65. Please bring these texts to class with you, either printed out or in electronic format. What do we learn about native Egyptians under the Ptolemies from the Rosetta Stone and the Oracle of the Potter, Bowman pp. 30-31?, Hor of Sebennytos p. 32

 

7. Consider the quote from p. 56 of Bowman that the Ptolemaic government was one of the most efficiently run and most rigidly hierarchical bureaucracies ever devised. What are the apparent advantages and disadvantages of such a system? Explain the importance of the three quoted passages on pages 58 and 59 as reflections on this system.

 

8. Examine the difference between the power structures and requirements in Greek Egypt (top of p. 61) and in the late Pharaonic period (1st paragraph of 61). Advantages and disadvantages of each?

 

9. How was justice dispensed between Egyptian natives and Greeks (pp. 61-top of 63)? Where are the equities and inequities in this system?

 

10. What important things about Greek-controlled Egypt do we learn from the Egyptian Dionysius, pp. 63-65?

 

 

2-6 Pharaoh names in Herodotus and standard Egyptian equivalents:

Min/Menes

Narmer or Aha

Dynasty I, c. 3100-2900 BCE

Herod. Book 2. chapter 99-100

Cheops

Khufu

IV c. 2589-2566

2.124-128

Chephren

Khafre

IV c. 2558-2533

2.127-128

Mycerinus

Menkaure

IV c. 2533-2505

2.129-134

Nitocris

Nitocris (but some memories of Hatshepsut?)

VI c. 2175-2173

XVIII 1479-1457

2.100

Moeris

Amenemhet III

XII 1843-1789

2.101

Sesostris

Senwosret I & III

XII 1943-1898,1862-1843

2.102-111

Rhampsinitus

Ramesses I-IV

XIX-XX 1295-94,1279-13

1184-53,1153-47

2.121-124

1. Compare and contrast the 12th dynastyÕs struggles with Nubia (see also Herod 2.106&110) and the 13th and 17thÕs reactions to the Asiatic Hyksos as described in ethnic terms. Watterson 53-60

 

2. What lasting effects on Egyptian culture resulted from the rule of the Hyksos (c. 1650-1550), especially in lower Egypt?

 

3. Describe several of the more significant examples cited by Watterson 64-68 that show the development of EgyptÕs (by Greek standards) distinctive religion centered around animal symbolism from predynastic through Old Kingdom Egypt. How are Re, Horus, the nbty Ô2 ladiesÕ and Osiris inexplicably tied to the political and societal expansion of Egypt?

 

4. Identify several of the environmental and geographical factors that have historically influenced the basic house structure in Egypt and note the general architectural response to this climate. Briefly note the evidence from el-Lahun.

 

5. What idealized realities frequently appear in early Egyptian sculpture and tomb paintings?

 

6. Note the excitement of travel/conquest narratives that appear in the biographical texts on Watterson 93-94

 

7. Consider the Egyptian idea of afterlife as expressed by Herodotus on p. 144 (section 123). Compare this to Watterson 68-69

 

8. What were the character and actions of each of the 3 pyramid-building kings (Cheops, Chephren, Mycerinus) and how do you think Herod. came to those conclusions? (pp.144-148). Compare HerodotusÕ comments about the pyramidsÕ construction costs with Watterson 51-52, 62-63 and the lead up to the First Intermediate Period. Notice that Herod. has the pyramid pharaohs WAY out of place chronologically

 

9. Notice the role of Sabacos, king of Nubia who also ruled all of Egypt (pp.150-151), and how Herod introduces his rule. How does Herodotus mark the accomplishments and end of his rule.

 

 

2-4

1. What is especially interesting about the Egyptians and their treatment of animals (esp. cat, crocodile, snakes, ibis) Herodotus pp. 121-124

 

2. Herodotus begins a second description of Egyptian customs on p. 124-129. Please note all the important customs described here (note Herod's details on mummification). How is this set of customs different from his earlier description on pp. 108-110? Why 2 different lists?

 

3. How are the Egyptians of the marshlands (Delta) different from those upriver according to Herodotus? pp. 129-131

 

4. Please examine Herodotus' statement about his sources on p. 132 and what that should mean to us and his original readers.

 

5. What criteria does Herodotus use to determine the ethnicity of the Colchians? ( p. 134) look at his statements on skin color and circumcision

 

6. Examine Herodotus' description of each of these Egyptian rulers: Nitocris (pp. 132-33), Sesostris (p. 133, 134-136, note p 625), Rhampsinitus (esp. consider why the long story attached here, 141-44).

 

 

1-30

 

1. From both Watterson and Herodotus, what are several ways that the lifestyles of the Egyptian people were strongly linked to the Nile river – consider the calendar as well as geographical questions? How did the desert surrounding the Nile further impact Egyptian lifestyles and cultural development? Note the Egyptian names for their lands on Watterson p. 9 as part of this consideration

 

2. Consider both Watterson's and Herodotus' comments about agricultural practices and production in Egypt and what this says about the development of Egyptian society, especially across class lines.

 

3. On Watterson pp. 13-17, what basic foundation has been laid for discussion of a distinctive Egyptian outlook on questions of race and gender?

 

Herodotus (p. 95) - Psammetichus was the first Pharaoh to actively admit Greek-speaking people into Egypt

 

4. Why does Herodotus start off this book with the story about "scientifically" determining whether Egypt was the world's oldest culture? What is good and bad about the method used here?

 

5. What "firsts" were the Egyptians responsible for according to Herodotus?

 

6. Consider Herodotus' "scientific" methods regarding the silting and annual flooding of the Nile.

 

Please look at the first map in the back of your Herodotus book called "Herodotus' world" and compare it to map D.

 

7. What is important about the story of the Deserters on p. 106 of Herodotus?

 

8. Read very carefully from p. 108 Herodotus' description of what's unique about the Egyptian people. What does he get right and what wrong? Know all the ways that cleanliness enters into Egyptian culture and why.

 

9. What significant cultural similarities and differences are detectable in the Predynastic cultures of Lower Egypt/Delta and Upper Egypt? Note especially the Faiyum, Merimda, MaÕadi, Badarian and Naqada cultures – what archaeological remains/relics are the main subject of study for determining the dates and societal structures of these cultures?

 

10. Summarize the very important conclusions made by Watterson on pp. 39-41 on the technological differences between Predynastic Upper and Lower Egypt and what that meant for the ultimate development of a unified Egypt? What cultural effects may have been or were dependent on Lower EgyptÕs proximity to western Asia?

 

11. What cultural conclusions may be discerned from the names of the first Dynasty kings of Upper Egypt? What changes in burial practice during this period seem to be a direct response to cultural necessities in developing stronger more vibrant societies across all classes and trades?

 

3-4 NOTE: Frank Snowden, author of your book, who recently passed away, was one of a very few African-American classical scholars.

1. What reasons does Snowden cite for entering on his study in perceptions of black Africans in the ancient Mediterranean world? (Preface + pp. 1-2)? What significance can you see thus far this term in the Greco-Roman adoption of the proverb ÔAfrica is always producing something newÕ?

 

2. What ethnic groups, other than Ethiopians, are also described as Ôblack,Õ though usually in such a way that leaves Ethiopians as the Ôyardstick by which ancient peoples measured blackness (Snowden 2)? What are some of the Greek and Latin terms describing black – consider English derivatives where appropriate.

 

3. Define the physical descriptions, ulotrichous (6), platyrrhiny (7 ff), prognathous/subnasal prognathism (8). How does Snowden show that the description of Scybale in the poem the Moretum presents the most comprehensive physical description of Ethiopian physiognomy (8-11)

 

4. What other ethnic designations came to be equated with blackness? Note SnowdenÕs summary of criteria for determining a passageÕs reference to a black African or Negro (14)

 

5. In SnowdenÕs appendix to Chapter 1, what are some of the most distinctive cases of individuals identified as black Africans?

 

6. Examine the 77 plates – what different approaches did artists in different media choose to designate the distinctive physical features of black Africans? Do any themes of presentation recur, whether contextual, stylistic, symbolic, geographic, anthropological/philosophical, etc.

 

 

2-20

 

1. In what ways do Cleopatra and Antony appear to adopt Egyptian habits and culture? What effect did this have against them in their conflict with the Roman ruler Octavian (Augustus), pp. 33-37, 170?

 

2. How do you think the ethnic neighborhoods described on p. 209 helped and hurt the lives of everyday Egyptians in Alexandria?

 

3. Why was rioting such a big issue in Alexandria? (pp. 212-216. What might cause it? How did ethnic tensions contribute?

 

4. How did native Egyptians contribute to the wealth of Alexandria? pp221-223.

 

5. How are Cleopatra and other Egyptians characterized in the passages from Plutarch and the poem by the Roman Horace? What are the positive and negative images presented there?

 

 

 

 

 

2-13

Asychis

Sheshonq I

XXII (Libyan) 945-924

2.136

Anysis

Sheshonq III + others

XXIII (Libyan) 818-715

2.137

Sabacos

Shabaka + Taharqa + Tantamani

XXV (Nubian) 716-702, 690-664, 664-656

2.137-140, 152

Sethos

Shabitku

XXV (Nubian) 702-690

2.141

Necho I

Assyrian puppet

2.152

Psammetichus I

Psamtik I

XXVI (Egyptians at Sais) 664-610

2.152ff

Necho II

XXVI 610-595

2.158-159

Psammis

Psamtik II

XXVI 595-589

2.160-161

Apries

XXVI 589-570

2.161-169

Amasis

XXVI 570-526

2.162-3.10

Psammenitus

Psamtik III

XXVI 526-525

3.10,14-15

 

1. What various ethnic groups controlled Egypt, directly or indirectly, 945-664 (Watterson 175-178)? How do they show their continuation of Egyptian traditions through their programs and policies (see also Herodotus p. 149-152)? Note that Sethos is a Nubian pharaoh, but that Herodotus misses this detail – how does Sethos, even in HerodotusÕ account, appear to be a foreign ruler?

 

2. What is the importance of bronze in the stories of Psammetichus (pp. 156-158)?

 

3. Note the class structure suggested by Herodotus. (pp.162-163 - sections 164-168) and read the note on p. 629.

 

4. What is significant about the story of Amasis on pp. 164-165 (sections 172-174)? What relation did Amasis and other XXVI dynasty leaders have to Greeks (Ionians, Carians,etc.) – see Herodotus and Watterson p. 179 – and what ethnic influences to Egypt resulted from this dynastyÕs continued wars in Palestine?

 

NOTE: Naucratis (p. 167) in the Delta of Egypt was the city most open to Greek and other foreign trade under the late pharaohs. This is where many of the Ionian Greek mercenaries lived.

 

5. Discuss the various theories (pp.169-170) Herodotus examines for understanding why Cambyses, king of Persia, invaded Egypt in 525 BCE. Especially note how these theories involve reactions to things done by Egyptians.

 

6. Consider what Herodotus tells us about the Arabians, the Greek mercenariesÕ punishment of Phanes for bringing Persians into Egypt, and his observations on the physiques of Egyptians and Persians (pp. 171-173)

 

7. Note the importance of the story of Cambyses and pharaoh Psammenitus (174-175).

 

8. List several of the disgraces Cambyses performed that offended the Egyptians and also seemed to indicate to them and Herodotus that Cambyses went insane around the time he invaded Egypt.

 

9. Identify the traits of the people known as the Fish-eaters and the Ethiopians as discussed on pp. 176-180.

 

10. How did the post-Nubian 26th dynasty exemplify nativist pride in Egyptian heritage in its policies and artistic styles? (Watterson 178, 190)? How did Persian control of Egypt differ from earlier foreign control there? (Watterson 181-182, 185-186)?