Government And Order In Ancient Egypt, By Thomas Hobbes

Imagine being on an island shipwrecked along with other people with no food, no water and no way of escaping. What would people do to survive? How would people be able to work together and who would be the one to take control? As the great philosopher Thomas Hobbes once said, “Government is necessary, not because man is naturally bad...but because man is by nature more individualistic than social”(Hobbes) This notion explains how people would likely behave on that desolate island. People would only care about themselves not because they are bad, but because of human nature, which will cause violence and chaos between people who believe they are superior to one another. In reality, government allows people to have a sense of order. There are
However a civilization known as Ancient Egypt was able to construct a very effective government that allowed Egypt to thrive within the time period. “Egypt is located in an area linking Northeast Africa to Asia and covers 995,450 square kilometers” (Egyptian Social Structure). Ancient Egyptians were very religious, placing the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis at the top of the pantheon.(). Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe. Ancient Egypt can be best understood through its chronological division into three kingdoms: Old Kingdom (2600-2160 B.C.),Middle Kingdom (2040-1700 B.C), and New Kingdom (1570-1070 B.C.) Egypt was divided into 42 discrete states/provinces known as “nomes”. (CITE) . Each nome had its own governor or nomarch who controlled its treasury and militia (Kjeilen, Tore). Egypt was very well organized into geographic districts that allowed for excellent
Another advancement that was made during this time period was the position of a vassal was introduced who vow allegiance to the pharaoh and receive supplies in return. The Middle ages utilized this new position to send these vassals across Egypt to control a specific area. However the issue was that the other half of Egypt had the same idea so conflict spread out. Finally In 2160 the Theban King was able to retake Lower Egypt and reunite Egypt into one astounding nation Lower egypt was under the control of Herakleopolis dynasties until the Theban king Mentuhotep the second conquered Lower Egypt to reunite Egypt once again. In the end the Middle Kingdom didn’t have a huge change in the structure of the government, but the structure of government that Egypt had was about to lead Egypt through the crisis of the civil wars as well as the social unrest. The reunification of Egypt unfortunately broke down once more and Egypt was split once again where the New Kingdom