THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The more than 3000 year long history of Ancient Egypt has been divided into 8 or 9 periods, sometimes called Kingdoms. This modern-day division is somewhat arbitrarily based on the country's unity and wealth and the power of the central government. The Ancient Egyptians themselves did not group their rulers according to such criteria. They rather seem to have developed the notion of dynasties throughout their history. The Palermo Stone simply lists the kings one after the other, without any apparent need of grouping them. The Turin Kinglist, which is more recent, has grouped the kings according to their descendance or origin. Thus, Amenemhat I and his descendants, are described as the kings of Itj-Tawi, the capital whence they ruled. We owe the division into 30 dynasties as we use it now to Manetho, an Egyptian priest who lived at the beginning of the Ptolemaic Era. In many cases, however, it is not clear why Manetho has grouped some kings into one dynasty and other kings into another. The 18th Dynasty, for instance, starts with Ahmose, a brother of the last king in Manetho's 17th Dynasty. Theoritically, Ahmose and Kamose should thus have been grouped in the same dynasty. Thutmosis I, on the other hand, does not appear to have been related to his predecessor, Amenhotep I, but still both kings are grouped in the 18th Dynasty.

Some Egyptologists have attempted to abandon the notions of Kingdoms and dynasties, but for the sake of conformity with most publications dealing with Ancient Egypt, this site will continue using both notions. Visitors may, however, notice that the timeline below and the timescale used throughout Egypt Guide Site may be somewhat different from some of the other books or web-sites they have consulted.

Visitors should also be aware that, as is the case with any publication dealing with Ancient Egypt, dates are approximations and should not be taken literally. In many cases it is not known just how long a king may have ruled. Comparing different publications on the hisory and chronology of Ancient Egypt, visitors may notice that one king may be credited with a fairly short reign in one publication and a fairly long in another. This impacts the absolute chronology, that is to say, Egyptian history using our year numbering.

In Egypt Guide Site, some dates will be proposed but again, they should only be seen as approximations and not as absolutes. A discussion on the length of the reign of a king may follow and this discussion may show the likelihood that this king reigned longer or shorter than the dates linked to his reign.

It can thus not be stressed enough that the provided dates are just a frame of reference helping readers to gain insight in the sequence of events and occurences and to have an approximate idea of the age of certain monuments and artefacts.

Ancient Egyptian Timeline

·         3100 BC The Egyptian civilization began when King Menes founded the first Egyptian dynasty 

·         3100 BC 3100-2950: The First and second dynasties ruled Egypt and began using hieroglyphics. Hor-Aha, is considered to be the first king of the first Dynasty Memphis, in Lower Egypt, was established as the capital of Egypt 

·         2950 BC 2950-2575: The first Egyptian pyramid is built - the Step Pyramid at Saqqara for King Zoser (aka Djoser) who was one of the kings of the 3rd Dynasty

·         2575 BC 2575 -2150 BC: The Old Kingdom (the 4th-8th Dynasties) - The Great Pyramids of Egypt were built at Dahshur and Giza and revered as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. King Unas (the last ruler of the 5th Dynasty) had the burial chamber in his pyramid inscribed with spells for the afterlife. These are referred to as the Pyramid Texts.

·         2125 BC 2125-1975 BC: The 9th-11th Egyptian Dynasties the 1st Intermediate Period. During this time Egypt saw a breakdown of central government

·         1975 BC 1975-1640 BC The 11th-14th Egyptian Dynasties the Middle Kingdom - Amenemhet is the most notable pharaoh who overthrew Mentuhotep III

·         1630 BC 1630 -1520 BC The 15th-17th Egyptian Dynasties the 2nd Intermediate Period Hyksos raiders from Asia and moved into the Delta and introduced the Egyptians to the chariot Ahmose eventually expelled the Hyksos from Egypt

·         1400 BC 1400s: King Thutmose III and Ancient Egypt reached the height of its power when military expeditions brought the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea under Egyptian rule

·         1539 BC 1539 -1075 BC: The 18th-20th Egyptian Dynasties New Kingdom and the building of the tombs of the Valley of Kings. The great Pharoahs included Hatshepsut (the famous female Pharoah), Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Tuthmosis and Ramesses II. King Akhenaten established a new religious order worshipping the sun god Aten. During this time the Egyptians developed a permanent army Ramesses XI was the last of the rulers of the New Kingdom.

·         1075 BC 1075-715 The 21st-25th Egyptian Dynasties the 3rd Intermediate Period - the Nubians conquer Egypt (late 8th century)

·         715 BC 715-332 The 20th-30th Egyptian Dynasties the Late Period and the Persians conquer Egypt in 525BC lead by the Persian king Cambyses II

·         332 BC Alexander the Great conquers Egypt. Alexander the Great occupies Egypt and his general, Ptolemy, becomes king and founds a dynasty. Greek culture was spread throughout Egypt during this dynasty. The city of Alexandria was founded and became famous for the Great Library and the great Lighthouse of Alexandria which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

·         196BC The Rosetta Stone is carved

·         51 BC 51-30 BC - Cleopatra VII reigns and became the mistress of Julius Caesar and gave birth to his son, Octavian.

·         37 BC 37 BC Queen Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemies marries Mark Antony

·         31 BC 31 BC Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra in the sea Battle of Actium . Both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide

·         30 BC 30 BC Egypt becomes a province of the Roman Empire

·         384 AD Theodosius ordered the adherence to Christianity

·         395 AD The Roman empire split into West and East and Egypt became part of the Byzantine Empire

·         642 AD 642 AD The Arabs captured Alexandria and Egypt became an important part of the Islamic Empire

·         868 868 - 969 The Tulunid and the Ikhshidid dynasty rule Egypt

·         969 Fatimid rulers seized Egypt and founded the Egyptian city Al-Qahirah (modern day Cairo)