Abstract
Here Dr. Norrie discusses the possible diseases that infected the Ancient Egyptian Empire, focusing on the bubonic plague epidemic during the reign of Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten in the Eighteenth Dynasty c.1350 bce. It discusses why Amenhotep III left Karnak to set up his new city of Malkata and made so many statues to Sekhmet, the Goddess of Pestilence. It also discusses why his son Akhenaten behaved in a similar way when he established his new city of Amarna with only one God—Aten.
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Notes
- 1.
Gardiner, A., The Egyptians, (London: Folio Society, 2005), 433.
Other dates for his reign include June 1386 to 1349 bce or June 1388 to December 1351 according to Jurgen van Beckerath in Chronologie des Pharaonischen Agypten (Philip von Zabern Mainz, 1997) 190.
- 2.
Ibid.
- 3.
Gardiner, A., (op.cit) 200.
- 4.
O’Connor, O and Cline, E., (1998), Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, (University of Michigan Press, 1998) 11–12.
- 5.
Kozloff, A.P., “Bubonic Plague During the Reign of Amenhotep III?” (KMT, Vol 17, Number 3, 2006) 36.
- 6.
Ibid and Sadek, A.I., Popular Religion in Egypt during the New Kingdom, (Hildesheim, 1987) 29. He noted that her cult arose in the New Kingdom, becoming especially strong during the reign of Amenhotep III.
- 7.
Ibid.
Note for Reference 7: This is also verified by the St. Louis University course on Egyptology -http://euler.slu.edu/~bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/amenhotepiii.htm, 5. Accessed 7 December 2012 where it states “At some point Amenhotep III had many statues of Sakhmet erected in the temple of Mut precinct in Karnak. Many hundreds of these statues have been found over the years. Some have speculated that the protective nature of the goddess may point to an attempt to have the gods protect Egypt against disease”.
Also refer to—Sekhmet, http://www.egyptianmyths.net/sekhmet.htm, 1. Accessed 9 December 2012 that states “Having once unleashed her powers for the destruction of mankind, the Egyptians feared a repeat performance by Sekhmet. The Egyptian people developed an elaborate ritual in hopes she could be appeased. This ritual revolved around more than 700 statues of the goddess. The ancient Egyptian priests were required to perform a ritual before a different one of these statues each morning and each afternoon of every day of every single year. Only by the strictest adherence to this never-ending ritual could the ancient Egyptians be assured of their ability to placate Sekhmet”.
Also refer to—Sekhmet, http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/sakhmet.html 1. Accessed 9 December 2012 that states “She [Sekhmet] was also the ‘Lady of Pestilence’ who could send plague and disease”.
Also refer to—Sekhmet, http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/Sekhmet.html 1. Accessed 9 December 2012 that states “Amenhotep III (father of Akhenaten, Dynasty Eighteen) built hundreds of statues of Sekhmet in the precinct of Mut’s temple (known as “Isheru”) south of the Great Temple of Amun in Karnak. It is thought that there was one for every day of the year and that offerings were made every day”.
- 8.
Moran, W.L., The Amarna Letters, (Baltimore, 1992) 21.
- 9.
Kozloff, (op.cit.) 40.
- 10.
Säve-Söderbergh, T., “Preliminary Report of the Joint Scandinavian Joint Expedition”, (Kirsh IS, 1967-68) 237–240.
- 11.
Oman, C.W.C., “The Hundred Years War”, (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica XI, 1943), 888b.
- 12.
Malkata Palace, http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/malkatapalace.html, 2. Accessed 3 December 2013.
- 13.
Kozloff, (op.cit.) 42 and Alfred, C., Akhenaten: King of Egypt, (London, 1998) 149 and 283.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Dodson, A. and Janssen, J.J., “A Thebian Tomb and its Tenants”, (Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 75, 1989) 125–138.
- 16.
Kozloff, (op.cit.) 42.
- 17.
Ibid.
- 18.
Ibid, 43.
- 19.
Ibid, 44.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
Ibid, 41 and Davies, B.G., “Egyptian Historical Records of the later Eighteenth Dynasty” (V, Warminster, 1994) 44–45.
- 22.
Ibid, 44.
- 23.
Ibid and University College of London course on Egyptology at— http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/ideology/sed/index.html, 1. Accessed 9 December 2012 which states, when discussing the Sed festival, “The purpose of the festival seems to have been the renewal of the physical and supernatural energies of the king”.
- 24.
Ibid.
- 25.
Panagiotakopulu, E., “Insect Remains from the Collections in the Egyptian Museum in Turin”, (Archaeometry, Vol. 45, Number 2, Wiley-Blackwell, 2003) 355–362.
- 26.
Panagiotakopulu, E., “Fleas from Pharaonic Amarna”, (Antiquity 75, 2001) 499–500.
- 27.
Boessneck, J., “Tell El Dab’a III Die Tierknochenfunde 1966-1969”, (Untersuchungen Des Osterreich Archaologischen Institut (UZK), Abt.S.Akademie Der Wissenschaft, Cairo, 1976.
- 28.
Panagiotakopulu, E., “Pharaonic Egypt and the origins of Plague”, (Journal of Biogeography 31, 2004) 272–273.
- 29.
Ibid and Armitage, P.L., “Unwelcome companions: ancient rats reviewed”, (Antiquity, Vol 68, 1994) 232.
- 30.
BBC-History-Ancient History in depth: “The End of the Amarna Period”, 5.
- 31.
The Hittites, http://www.michaelmaxwolf.de/antike/alter_orient/hethiter.htm, “The Hittites”, 7 Accessed 3 December 2013.
- 32.
Watson-Williams, E., (op.cit.).
- 33.
Ibid, 109–125.
- 34.
Walloe, L., (op.cit.).
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Norrie, P. (2016). How Disease Affected the History of the Egyptian Empire. In: A History of Disease in Ancient Times. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28937-3_3
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