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About stuartbramhall

Retired child and adolescent psychiatrist and American expatriate in New Zealand. In 2002, I made the difficult decision to close my 25-year Seattle practice after 15 years of covert FBI harassment. I describe the unrelenting phone harassment, illegal break-ins and six attempts on my life in my 2010 book The Most Revolutionary Act: Memoir of an American Refugee.

Dynasty XXVI: Egypt Expels Assyrians, Takes on Babylon and Palestine

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Episode 39 The Saite Period

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

The first two pharaohs of Dynasty XXVI (66t-564 BC) were puppet kings of the Assyrian empire ruling from Sais:

  • Necho I (665-664 BC) – placed on Egyptian throne after the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who succeeded him, killed the entire Egyptian nobility except for him.
  • Psamtik I (664-610 BC) – son of Necho I, appointed his daughter Nitocres the Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes and recruited a substantial number of Greek mercenaries from Nekratis* into the Egyptian army. While the Assyrian army was distracted with their war with Babylonia, he marched north and drove all remaining Assyrian troops from Egypt.

Rebuilding Egypt following independence:

  • Necho II (610-595 BC) – freed from Assyrian control, Psamtiki I’s son resumed international trading expeditions, started a navy and conquered Palestine.
  • Psamtik II (595-589 BC) – Necho II’s son led military campaign into Nubia as far as the third cataract, leaving an inscription on Ramses the Great’s leg at the great temple at Abu Sindel. Allowing minor princes to run their own principalities in northern Egypt, he led troops* into Palestine to support Israel against the Babylonian king Nebbakanezzer II. Their defeat (described in the Bible’s second book of Kings), resulted in the Babylonian exile of the Jews. Taking captive the entire literate class of Jerusalem as slaves, they only left behind the poorest Jews.** A third of the population escaped to Egypt.

Abu Simbel Temples: A miracle built inside the mountain by King Ramses II - EgyptToday

Massive identical statues of Ramses the Great at Abu Sindel

  • Apries (589-570 BC) – son of Psamtik II, continued to battle the Assyrians to prevent their re-invasion of Egypt. Following the Greek invasion of Libya, he went to the assistance of the Libyans, and one of his generals (Amais) launched a coup, killing Apries and making himself king of Egypt.
  • Amais (570-526 BC) – tried to reconcile with the Greeks by sending them money to rebuild the temple of Delphi after it burned down. Around 30,000 Greeks (seafaring people who like trading) settled in Naukratis* near Memphis. There they built an iron works and a massive scarab factory. Using molds they fill with quarzite paste and kiln dry, they manufactured scarabs by the hundreds of thousands

*There are so many foreigners in the Egyptian army that Greeks, Jews, Libyans and Nubians, each have their own divisions.

**Who Brier believes are likely ancestors of modern day Palestinian.

***Nekratis was a majority Greek city in northern Egypt. There was also a similar Jewish community on Elephantini Island near Aswan.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492877

Dynasty XXV – The Nubians Unite Egypt, Invasion and Occupation by Assyria

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Episode 38 Dynasty XXV: The Nubians Have Their Day

he History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

Dynasty XXII (the Libyan dynasty) became fragmented after different princes claimed sovereignty over different regions of Egypt.

The Nubians (referred to as Kushites in the Bible) consisted of multiple warring tribes south of the Aswan. They experienced repeated Egyptian invasions for thousands of years before uniting under King Piye in 747 BC to defend themselves. Leading his troops and bowmen* north, he seized power from the four Egyptian kings representing the XXIII and XXIV Dynasties in the delta region.

Piye (747-716 BC) then unified Egypt by making his sister Amenirdis I the Divine Adoratrice of Amun at Karnak (in Upper Egypt) and allowing petty princes to rule on his behalf in delta. Taking one of the delta kings prisoner, he returned home to rule from Nubia.

His brother Shabak (716-697 BC) succeeded him (according to Nubian tradition) and erected a large stella summarizing the creation of the world by Ptah.**

Shabak’s nephew Shubilku (697-690 BC) succeeded Shabak. He appointed his daughter Shepenwept II the Divine Adoratrice of Amun at Karnak.Under his reign, Assyria which was annexing more and more of the Middle East invaded and occupied Palestine.

Taharqa (possibly the son of Piye) succeeded Shubiku and ruled from 690-664 BC. He allied with the kingdom of Judah to defeat Assyrians at Eltekeh in (in modern day Israel( in 701 BC.

The Assyrian king  Sennacherib was assassinated on his return to Assyria, and Taharqa was defeated by Sennarcherib’s successor Esarshaddon at Ahkelon (in southern Israel), resulting in the Assyrian invasion of Egypt. Taharqa fled to northern Nubia, and  Esarshaddon was assassinated in 668 BC during a rebellion in northern Egypt. In retaliation Ashurbanipal, who succeeded him, killed the entire Egyptian nobility except for Necho I, who he made vassal king of Egypt.

Assuming the throne of Nubia and Upper Egypt following Taharqa’s death, his cousin Tahuatamun launched an unsuccessful assault on the Assyrian in northern Egypt. Victorious, the Assyrians marched south seizing all the gold in Thebes and occupying all of Egypt.

Brier uses the last 10 minutes of the lecture to address the controversy around two questions: 1) whether Western civilization originated in Africa (ie Egypt) and 2) whether Egyptians were Back.

He cites Socrates and Plato as affirming Egypt was the origin of Greek civilization. Greek scholars often visited Egypt to learn math, and Greeks learned stone building from the Egyptians.

According to Brier, Egyptians came in all skin colors. In tomb frescoes, Nubians have black skin (Nubians also depicted themselves as black), Egyptian men red skin and Egyptian women yellow skin. Libyans (who lived in large numbers in the delta region) had fairer skin than Egyptians.

*The Egyptians had hired Nubians as mercenary bowmen for centuries.

**There were numerous temples to Amun and other gods in northern Nubia, and educated Nubians totally embraced Egyptian gods.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492875

Dynasty XXII: Libyan Mercenaries Conquer and Unite Egypt

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Shoshenq I (middle) gives offering to Amun (left), accompanied by his son Iuput (right), drawn by Ippolito Rosellini at the Bubastite Portal.

Shoshenq I (middle) gives offering to Amun (left), accompanied by his son Iuput (right)

Episode 37 Dynasty XXII:  Egypt United

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

Dynasty XXII was actually a Libyan dynasty, which reunited and ruled Egypt for 200 year from their delta capitol. Most of the information archeologists have collected about the XXIInd dynasty comes from the Serapeum in Saqqara. The latter is the burial place for the Apis bulls sacred to Ptah. There are inscriptions inside the tomb identifying the king undertaking the burial. Archeologists have also found a few tombs of Libyan kings.

Large numbers of Libyans (most likely descendants of Libyans captured during Ramses III’s war with Libya) had settled in the delta region and were used as mercenaries by pharaohs of earlier dynasties. The first Libyan king Shoshenq I (945-924 BC) was the chief of the Meshwesh (Libyan mercenaries) and claimed the throne after marrying the daughter of the last king of the XXIst dynasty.

To secure Egyptian unity, Shoshenq appointed all his sons to high administrative positions in his government. One became the high priest of Amun in Thebes and the commander-in-chief of the army, one became the third prophet of Amun and one was was made military commander of Heracleopolis in Middle Egypt.

Shoshenq (referred to Shesaq in the Bible) launched a campaign against Palestine, weakened due its recent division into Israel and Judah. After his troops captured 156 Palestinian cities, his troops encircled Jerusalem and retreated after the city fathers gave him all the gold shields and other treasures of the city.

Shoshenq I’s successors:

  • Osorkon I (924-990 BC) –  best known for donating 400,000 pounds of silver to Egyptian temples. His whole family is buried in solid silver coffins. Orsokon’s cousin Harsi was high priest at Karnak and briefly declared himself king of Upper Egypt. Following hi death, Orsokon appoint his son as high priest of Karnak and reunited the country. Under Orsokon, Egypt allied with Israel to march (and prevail) against Assyria, which posed a major threat to both countries.
  • Shoshenq II (887-885 BC)
  • Takelot II (885-872 BC) – eventually puts down a 10 year civil war and burns the bodies of the rebels (so they can’t be reincarnated).
  • Orsokon IV (730-715 BC) – last king of XXIInd Dynasty

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492873

Dynasty XXI: Egypt Divides into Upper and Lower Egypt

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Episode 36 Dynasty XXI: Egypt Divided

The History of Ancient Egypt

Professor Robert Brier

Film Review

The division of Egypt into Upper (southern) and Lower (northern Egypt) began under the last XXth dynasty pharaoh Ramses XI. There seems to have been strong cooperation (including intermarriage) between the two Egypts during a period of substantial wealth.

Rulers of Upper Egypt

  • Amun Herihor or (1080-1074 BC) – a high priest in Thebes who declared himself king of Upper Egypt, ruling from Thebes.
  • Piankh (1074-1070 BC) – of unknown parentage, he died around the same time as Ramses XI, who was ruling Lower Egypt.
  • Pinedjem I (1070-1032) – high priest in Thebes who married the daughter of Ramses XI, discovered massive plundering of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and ordered the damaged mummies restored, rewrapped and labeled with the correct names.
  • Masaherta (1054-1045 BC) – high priest in Thebes.
  • Menkeheperre (1045-992 BC) – high priest in Thebes.
  • Smendes II (992-990 BC) – high priest in Thebes
  • Pinedem II (990-969) – high priest who discovered the tombs in the Valley of the Kings had been raided yet again and had all the pharaohs’ mummies reburied in a secret tomb excavated out of a cliff at Diero-betteri (where they remained untouched for 3,000 years).
  • Psusennes III (969-945 BC) – the last high priest to rule Upper Egypt from Thebes.

Rulers of Lower Egypt

  • Sinendes I (1069-1043 BC) – military leader who seizes the throne following Ramses XI’s death and moves the capital from Pi-Ramesses to Tanis, as well as moving all of Ramses II’s statues and obelisks to the new capitol.
  • Amenennissa (1043-1039 BC) – son of the Upper Egypt high priest/king Amun Herihor who rules Upper Egypt.
  • Psusennes I (1039-991 BC) – buried at Tanis, the grandeur of his tomb rivals that of Tutankamen (suggesting great Egyptian wealth during his reign. His mummy was encased in a pure silver (which was three time as valuable as gold) sarcophagus, which was encased in an alabaster sarcophagus, which was encased in a black granite sarcophagus, which was encased in a pink granite sarcophagus. His face was was covered with a gold mask.
  • Amenemope (993-984 BC) – also buried with a gold face mask.
  • Osorkon the Elder (984-978 BC)
  • Siamun (978-959 BC) – ruled while David was fighting the Philistines and trying to unite the tribes of Israel. According to the Bible, he sent one of his daughters* to Palestine* to marry the Edomite Hadad, who “became a great favorite of the pharaoh.”
  • Psusennes II (959-945 BC)

*Previously it was unprecedented for members of the royal family to move to foreign land, because it meant they wouldn’t be reincarnated.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/1492791/1492873

Pentagon Wants to Feed Troops ‘Experimental’ Lab-Grown Meat to ‘Reduce CO2 Footprint’

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(Luke Sharrett/Getty Images)

Adam Kredo

A Pentagon-funded company is seeking proposals to feed America’s soldiers lab-grown meat in a bid to “reduce the CO2 footprint” at Defense Department outposts.

BioMADE, a public-private company that has received more than $500 million in funding from the Defense Department, announced earlier this month that it is seeking proposals to develop “innovations in food production that reduce the CO2 footprint of food production at … DoD operational environments,” according to an online announcement.

These include “novel cell culture methods suitable for the production of cultivated meat/protein,” or lab-grown meat, a product that is still in its experimental phases. This type of meat is grown in a lab from animal cells with the aid of other chemicals, and has emerged as a flashpoint in debates about the efficacy and morality of manufacturing meat products without slaughtering animals.

BioMADE—which earlier this year received a $450 million infusion of taxpayer cash—maintains that lab-grown food products will reduce the Pentagon’s carbon footprint, a priority for the American military as it pursues a Biden administration-mandate to address climate change and other cultural issues that critics describe as “woke.”

“Innovations in food production that reduce the CO2 footprint of food production at and/or transport to DoD operational environments are solicited,” the company says in an informational document and accompanying press release. “These could include, but are not limited to, production of nutrient-dense military rations via fermentation processes, utilizing one carbon molecule (C1) feedstocks for food production, and novel cell culture methods suitable for the production of cultivated meat/protein.”

BioMADE is also soliciting proposals for “processes that convert greenhouse gasses” and “projects that develop bioproducts useful in mitigating the negative environmental impacts either regionally or globally,” including “bioproducts that can be used to prevent or slow coastal erosion.”

Critics of the DoD’s partnership with BioMADE say that U.S. troops should not be used as test subjects for lab-grown meat products that are still in their experimental phase.

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund the lab-grown meat sector,” Jack Hubbard, executive director at the Center for the Environment and Welfare, a consumer group that analyzes emerging markets such as bioengineered meat. “Our troops deserve better than to be served lab-grown meat, produced in bioreactors with immortalized cells and chemicals.”

“Unfortunately,” Hubbard said, “this effort is being driven by an agenda that is political and anti-farmer. Our soldiers should never be used as guinea pigs.”

The Pentagon and its outside partners, as part of its push to fund “alt-protein projects,” made up to $2 million available for such projects, according to the publication Alt-Meat.

Supporters of these efforts say U.S. national security hinges on addressing global change and pursuing new technologies that enable products like lab grown meat.

“One of the most immediate, politically feasible, and high-impact ways to do this [address climate change] is for the U.S. government to invest in and accelerate alternative ways to produce meat,” Matt Spence, a former Defense Department official wrote in a 2021 Slate piece.

Recent studies, however, including one published by the University of California, Davis suggest that “lab-grown meat’s carbon footprint [is] potentially worse than retail beef.”

“If companies are having to purify growth media to pharmaceutical levels, it uses more resources, which then increases global warming potential,” according to the report’s lead author, Derrick Risner, a member of UC Davis’s Department of Food Science and Technology. “If this product continues to be produced using the ‘pharma’ approach, it’s going to be worse for the environment and more expensive than conventional beef production.”

[…]

Via https://freebeacon.com/national-security/pentagon-wants-to-feed-troops-experimental-lab-grown-meat-to-reduce-co2-footprint/