Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

"From the words carved on the stone tablet outside this temple, we can see that there was a long conflict between ancient Egypt and southern Nubia." After reading the content on the stone tablet, Liang En looked at the participants in the auditorium. participants said.

"We will find that every line of this stele reveals the importance of the southern fortress, and also reveals one of the responsibilities of the Egyptian pharaoh: to guard the border while constantly expanding it."

"Another stone tablet from the same temple records the achievements of another pharaoh during his reign. We can see more information from it." Liang En said using the projector to switch to another stone tablet.

"This is an article about the construction of large-scale projects during the pharaoh's reign. From these records, we can see that the southern fortress was a very important facility for ancient Egypt."

"Even the style of the entire fortress has changed over time. For example, the renovation or new construction of some facilities written in it can be seen to be related to the impact of the invasion of other kingdoms."

"For example, the invasion of the Hyksos revolutionized Egyptian defensive thinking and the use of war horses, and the rise of dynasties in the Nubia region deepened Egypt's emphasis on southern fortresses."

However, because these military buildings were abandoned after the end of the ancient Egyptian era, these buildings were not only gradually destroyed and collapsed over a long period of time, but were also completely forgotten by people.

Now, based on the records of wars in those temples, people have redetermined the locations of those ancient Egyptian fortresses and started exploration.

The results of the exploration are very gratifying. As the most important fortress group in ancient Egypt, archaeologists have found a large number of cultural relics of extremely high historical value while excavating this important ruins.

For various dynasties in ancient Egypt, it was a very important thing to go along the Nile River to Nubia, which is the area along the Nile between southern Egypt and northern Sudan today to start pioneering work.

Because this place between Egypt and the black African area was the only way for ancient Egypt to expand, and it was also an important source of most of the gold, ivory, wood and slaves of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Although Egypt is considered a rich place in ancient history books, in fact, Egypt itself was basically unable to be self-sufficient in other important materials except food and copper ore.

Therefore, this country has a strong dependence on the outside world. Therefore, Egypt in its prosperous period must include the Nubia region south of the River in the Near East. Only in this way can there be enough wealth, materials and manpower to maintain the operation of the entire country.

Among the wealth, resources from the south are definitely important. For example, in terms of timber, there is not much timber production in Egypt.

After all, most of Egypt itself is desert, and only the two sides of the Nile River and a small number of oases are suitable for the growth of various plants and human survival.

However, the climate in these places is only suitable for the growth of palms or date palms, which are very valuable but have poor wood quality. There is no way to meet the ancient Egyptians' demand for wood.

Therefore, the ancient Egyptians could only go outside their own country to find wood. For example, they used cedar from Lebanon for shipbuilding, and they also obtained hardwoods such as ebony from the south for making various furniture and containers.

As for slaves, they are also very important. If you think about the ancient buildings of ancient Egypt that have been passed down to this day, you will know that the construction of these buildings requires a large number of manpower, not to mention the important proportion of Nubian archers in the ancient Egyptian army.

I have to comment on the long history of slave capture in sub-Saharan Africa: first they were captured by the ancient Egyptians, then the Persians, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, the Arabs, and finally they were captured by the Europeans and then transported. to the United States.

It is precisely for this reason that the Southern Fortress during the Middle Kingdom was one of the most glorious moments in the history of its existence: as a defensive fortress, its strategic significance was fully realized.

Even after the Second Intermediate Period, the border defense line was advanced to the vicinity of the Fourth Falls of the Nile River. Egypt at this time was undoubtedly glorious and powerful, and it had also entered the most prosperous period of ancient Egypt.

"If we simply look at the content on the stone tablets, the fortress exists as a defense mechanism and has important strategic significance, but in fact it is not just that."

After I introduced the stone tablet, Liang En quickly switched the picture to the photo of the archaeological site of the fortress on the bank of the Nile River, then took out the pointer and started to talk about another discovery he made.

"According to the on-site archaeological conditions, there are almost no traces of attacks by the Nubians or exchanges of fire with the Nubian army during the Middle Kingdom period when the fortress was the most outstanding. Only some burning and looting were left during the Second Intermediate Period. Mark of.

"What needs to be noted is that archaeological evidence shows that most of the soldiers stationed in the fortress were local residents. In other words, the southern fortress did not have a large number of military forces stationed."

Unlike today, in ancient times there were no such convenient means of logistics and communication, so the differences between regions were much greater than today. Therefore, it is easy to judge from the excavated things where the people living here came from.

"Through the text information found, we determined that this ruins is the fortress "Elephantine" that has been established since the Old Kingdom period. Its name means "elephant" or "the place where elephants appear."" Liang Enyong Pointer Knocking on the screen.

"Everyone can think about what the greatest value of an elephant was in that era thousands of years ago? I think it was the ivory as a mount or as a work of art."

The professors and students below nodded. Liang En's explanation was very reasonable, especially when it was combined with the previous archaeological results. After receiving everyone's feedback, Liang En nodded and continued.

"According to archaeological conclusions, these fortresses did not have a large number of military forces stationed there, so naturally there would be no elephants as mounts, so for this place, its symbolic meaning can only be ivory."

"And what can you think of from ivory? Economy and trade. At least during the Middle Kingdom, Elephantine was a key node on the trade route to Nubia for Egyptian officials, so it was called the "Ivory Road" "

"Fortress Buhen also shouldered the important task of trade communication between Egypt and Nubia. Even archaeological discoveries found that Buhen should have been a major copper smelting stronghold during the Old Kingdom."

"So we can infer that these buildings are not so much military buildings on the border, but rather border trade centers. They may not be a strict military fortress as recorded in the records - Is there something wrong? ?”

At this point, Liang En suddenly stopped because he found a professor raising his hand to indicate that he had questions to ask, and this was also part of the meeting process: any academic questions could be asked in a timely manner.

"That's right, Mr. Liang, I have two questions." The professor, who didn't look very old, pushed up his glasses and said.

"The first question is, apart from the traces at the archaeological site, have we found any evidence that this was a trade route. The second question is, if there is not so much tension here, why is there such a record on the temple? ?”