Which type of factor contributed most to the decline of your chosen civilization: social, economic, or political?

Political and social factors had the greatest impact in the decline of ancient Egypt. The first crack in the civilization’s foundation appeared after the 19^th Dynasty when the Hittites and other rivals started to upgrade their weapons from bronze to iron. This was a problem because the Egyptians had little to no sources of this material in their own land, thus making them easier to attack. More cracks started to appear in 1200 BC when Egypt broke out into a civil war in the far south. As a result, from 1070 BC onwards, Egypt was split into two kingdoms, one was ruled by the pharaoh while the other was ruled by the high priest. Egypt continued being plagued with civil war for decades, they became so weak that as a result, Nubia (a long-time colony of Egypt) rose up and took over all of Egypt, uniting their kingdoms in approximately 720 BC. 

Despite this, Egypt could not maintain the peace because some 30 years later the nation was facing a brutal war with the Assyrians who invaded many of Egypt’s cities. This war lasted some 140 years which proved to be extremely costly since Egypt began to rely heavily on Greek-mercenaries for aid rather than their own subjects and warriors. At last, Egypt fell to the Persian empire in 525 BC and would never again stand on its own two feet. Since war and invasion were the main two causes of Egypt’s defeat it is safe to say that both political and social factors played the greatest role in the fall of this once great nation. 

Bibliography:

 

Dodson, Aidan. “Egypt: The End of a Civilisation” BBC. February 17, 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/egypt_end_01.shtml