4 October Timeline of Ancient Egyptian History

Timeline of Ancient Egyptian History

Predynastic Period (c. 5000-3100 BCE)

Encompassing about 2,000 years, this was the period before writing was developed and saw the gradual development of the Egyptian civilization from a hunting society to one based on agriculture.  This period saw the move toward village life, divisions of labor, and the beginnings of politics.  

Somewhere around 3400 BCE, this civilization split into two kingdoms near the Fertile Crescent – Lower Egypt to the north around the Nile River Delta extending to Arfih and Upper Egypt to the south from Arfih to Gebel es-Silsila.  This period was also the beginning of mummification and the burying of the dead in the sand with their possessions.

The Fertile Crescent, also known as the Cradle of Civilization, was not only home to some of the earliest civilizations, it was also the area from which many technological inventions, including writing, the wheel, agriculture, and irrigation, were developed.  Shaped like a crescent moon or a boomerang, it extended from the Nile River on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to the south to the southern fringe of Turkey on the north.  On the west was the Mediterranean Sea while the Persian Gulf formed its eastern border.  Both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow through this area.

 

Archaic (Early Dynastic) Period (c. 3100-2686 BCE) (1^st-2^nd Dynasties)

The foundations of Egyptian society came from this period, especially the idea of a king as ruler.  To the ancient Egyptians, the king was like a god, closely identified with the god Horus (god of the sky).  Somewhere around 2686 BCE, King Narmar (sometimes referred to as King Menes) (from Upper Egypt) invaded and conquered Lower Egypt.  With the unification of the country, King Menes established its capital at White Walls (now Memphis) where the city grew and flourished during the period of the Old Kingdom.  This was also the period when the earliest pieces of hieroglyphic writing were found.  The first document of Egypt was called the Narmer Palette, a highly decorated stone palette which many believe that told the story of Egypt’s unification.  During this period the sand burials evolved into mastabas which were low, rectangular, flat-roofed burial structures with sloping sides, made from mud bricks.

The Nile River played an important role in the growth of agriculture as the economic base of the Egyptian society.  After the annual flooding of the Nile which provided not only irrigation but also the fertile silt, the farmers would plant mainly wheat and barley and then harvest it before the drought and high temperatures returned.

Old Kingdom: Age of the Pyramid Builders (c. 2686-2181 BCE.) (3^rd-6^th Dynasties)

This was the period that saw the building of the first pyramids in Egypt.  King Djoser, a king from the third dynasty of pharaohs, had his architect, priest and healer, Imhotep, design a funerary monument for him around 2630 BCE, resulting in the construction of the first major stone building, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.  Imhotep started his design as a mastaba, but then decided to add another two (smaller) mastabas on top.  It was Senferu (4^th Dynasty) that actually built the first true pyramid (Red Pyramid), while his son and successor Khufu (2589 to 2566 BCE) had the Great Pyramid at Giza built.  This was then followed by two other pyramids at Giza, built for Khufu’s successors Khafra (2558-2532 BCE) and Menkaura (2532-2503 BCE).

Egyptian pyramid-building reached its zenith with the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. The pyramid was later named by classical historians as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The ancient Greek historian Herodotus estimated that it took 100,00 men 20 years to build it.

The third and fourth dynasties was a golden age of peace and prosperity.  With their absolute power, the pharaohs established a stable government, and while facing no series threats from foreign powers, their strong military was able to wage successful campaigns against both Nubia and Libya.  Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura were all part of the 4^th dynasty.

However, their successors in the fifth and sixth dynasties saw their wealth depleted partly due to the high cost of the pyramid building.  This latter part of the Old Kingdom also saw the decrease in the absolute power of the pharaoh due to the rising influence of the nobility and priesthood that grew around the sun god Ra.  With the death of the sixth dynasty’s King Pepy II, Egyptian society was in chaos.

While many feel that the creation of the pyramids was the great legacy of the Old Kingdom, historians look at the momentous social changes that started with the fifth and six dynasties and changed the course of Egyptian history as the true legacy.  Prior to this, pharaohs held total control on the people and the empire, but this massive pyramid building came at a cost.  The pharaohs of the fifth and sixth dynasties inherited an economy that was depleted, a climate that was becoming unstable, and large segments of the population who were disgruntled with the expensive tastes and practices from the previous pharaohs.  In order to keep control over their lands, the pharaohs were forced to share some power with non-royal officials, including priests and scribes.  In addition, prior to this, the pharaohs had identified themselves with the sun god Ra and controlled the worship of this god.  However, they did not oversee the worship of Osiris, god of the underworld,  As Osiris had control over everyone’s soul, not just the pharaoh, his worship was open to all the population.  And soon, Osiris became more powerful than the sun god and many of the non-royal officials put their faith in him, thus becoming even more powerful in the eyes of the general population.  As these officials became more powerful, the governorships that existed throughout Egypt also grew in power.  This in turn led to political instability resulting in the fall of the Old Kingdom and a period of political fragmentation that followed for the next 125 years. 

It should be noted that although there continued to be some pyramid building up through the end of the Ptolemaic period (4^th Century AD), the beginning of the New Kingdom saw the end of most of the pyramid building, especially those built as tombs. 

First Intermediate Period (c. 2181-2055 BCE) (7^th-10^th Dynasties)

The beginning of this period was as chaotic as the end of the Old Kingdom.  The seventh and eighth dynasties saw a rapid turnover of successors, and by 2160 BCE, central authority was dissolved, and civil war broke out between the provincial governors.  Added to this unrest and conflict, Egypt was invaded by the Bedouins and faced famine and disease.

As a result, the Egyptian civilization was divided into two kingdoms.  Lower Egypt, from Memphis to Thebes and based in Heracleopolis, was ruled by pharaohs from the 9^th and 10^th dynasties.  Upper Egypt, based in Thebes, was ruled by a family who had challenged the Hercleopoltran rulers.  Somewhere around 2055 BCE, the Theban prince Mentuhotep II conquered the Heracleopolis rulers and reunited Egypt, with Thebes as its capital, thus beginning the 11^th dynasty and ending the First Intermediate Period.  During this period there was much damage to temples, artwork, and statutes.

Middle Kingdom: 12th Dynasty (c. 2055-1786 BCE) (11^th-13^th Dynasties)

The last king of the 11^th Dynasty was Mentuhotep IV, although there is not much known of him.  His reign seems to cover a 7-year period where there was no recorded king and his name does not appear on the official list of kings in Abydos.  When he was assassinated without any heirs, he was succeeded by his vizier who became King Amenemhet I, founder of the 12^th dynasty.  He established a new capital at Ito-towy, south of Memphis, while Thebes remained the great religious center.  During the Middle Kingdom, life in Egypt flourished and prospered, much as it had done in the Old Kingdom. 

During this period, the rulers were very aggressive in their foreign policy.  They colonized Nubia, giving them access to gold, ebony and ivory; they drove out the Bedouins who had earlier invaded Egypt; they built diplomatic and trade relations with Syria and Palestine, and they not only built more pyramids, they also constructed military fortresses and mining quarries.  After the reign of Amenenhet III (1872-1797 BCE), the Middle Kingdom reached its peak, but ended after the reign of Queen Sobekneferu (1789-1786 BCE).  She was the sister of Amenenhet IV and the first confirmed female ruler of Egypt.

Second Intermediate Period (c. 1786-1567 BCE) (14^th-17^th Dynasties)

This period was another unsettled time for Egyptian society.  When a quick succession of kings failed to consolidate power, Egypt was divided into several parts.  While the official royal court and seat of government (13^th dynasty) was relocated to Thebes, another rival dynasty (14^th dynasty) ruled at the same time from Xois in the Nile delta.  About 1650 BCE, a group of foreign rulers – the Hyksos – assumed power and became the 15^th dynasty.  They adopted and continued many of Egyptian traditions, but they also ruled concurrently with Theban rulers of the 17^th dynasty, who had retained control over most of southern Egypt (although they still had to pay taxes to the Hyksos).  Finally, around 1570 BCE, the Thebans drove the Hyksos out of Egypt.

New Kingdom (c. 1567-1085 BCE) (18^th-20^th Dynasties)

This was the beginning of the New Kingdom under the rule of Ahmose I, the first king of the 18^th dynasty.  Egypt was again united, control over Nubia was restored, and military operations were begun against the Palestine, Mitannians, and Hittites.  Egypt soon became the world’s first great empire, with its borders stretching from Nubia to the Euphrates River in Asia.  This was also a time of great advances by the Egyptians in the fields of medicine and surgery.  Their medical texts contained treatments for a variety of neurological, orthopedic, and internal ailments.

This was not only the period of great and powerful kings (Amenhotep I (1546-1526 BCE), Thutmose I (1525-1512 BCE), Amenhotep III (1417-1379 BCE), Thutmose III, Amenhotep IV or Akhenaton (1379-1362BCE), King Tutankhamen (c.1361-1352 BCE), Ramses I, and Ramses II (1304-1237 BCE), and Ramses III (c. 1187-1156 BCE)), it also saw an increased role for royal women, including Queen Hatshepsut (1503-1482 BCE) who, while acting as a regent for her young stepson, rose to all the powers of a pharaoh.

This was also the period of great change in the religion of Egypt.  Amenhotep IV or Akhenaton as he became known, disbanded the priesthoods dedicated to Amun-Re (the god formed by merging the local Theban god Amon and the sun god Re) and decreed the worship of a new sun god – Aten.  He also built a new capital called Akhetaton in Middle Egypt.  Upon his death, King Tut succeeded him and returned the capital to Thebes, restoring the Temple of Amun, and allowing Egyptians to worship a multitude of gods.

Perhaps the greatest pharaohs were the Ramses kings of the 19th and 20th dynasties.  They restored the weakened Egyptian empire and constructed an amazing number of great temples and cities.  According to Bible legend, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt during the reign of Ramses II.

It was during Ramses II reign that he led his army against the Hittites (from what is now Turkey) in the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE), who had been battling the Egyptians for two centuries.  The battle is considered one of the most epic of battles fought in the New Kingdom as both armies were equally matched and both sides claimed victory.   The Treaty of Kadesh, signed in 1259, became the world’s first peace treaty. 

This was the time of the creation of the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes.  All of the New Kingdom rulers, except Akhenaton, were buried in deep, rock-cut tombs.  Unfortunately, most of these tombs were raided and destroyed by later invaders or rulers, with the exception of King Tutankhamen (discovered in 1922) and the last great king of the 20^th dynasty, Ramses III.   Both of these tombs were a treasure cove of artifacts indicating the prosperity enjoyed by Egypt during this period.

Unfortunately, the kings that followed Ramses III were ill-suited for the job.  They permanently lost Egypt’s land in Palestine and Syria, were unsuccessful in deterring foreign invasions, and finally depleted all of Egypt’s wealth.

Third Intermediate Period (c. 1085-664 BCE) (21^st-25^th Dynasties)

Over the next 400 years, under the rulers of the 21^st and 22^nd dynasties, significant changes were made to Egyptian politics, society and culture.  The centralized government under the pharaohs was replaced by local governments and officials.  Foreign rulers from Lybia and Nubia grabbed power, with King Sheshonq, a descendant of the Libyans who had invaded Egypt during the 20^th dynasty, becoming the first king of the 22^nd dynasty.  There is not much known of the 23^rd and 24^th dynasties.

By 700 BCE, the 25^th dynasty of Nubian pharaohs was established at Thebes.  During this time there were clashes with the Assyrian empire, and in 671 BCE, the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon drove the Nubian ruler out of Memphis and destroyed the city.  He established his set of rulers from the local governors and officials loyal to the Assyrians.  The first king of the 26^th dynasty(Saite) was Necho Sais, but he only ruled briefly as he was killed by the Nubian leader Tanuatamun in what was the last, but unsuccessful, grab for power by the Nubians.

Late Period and Alexander’s Conquest (c.664-31 BCE) (26^th-31^st Dynasties, Alexander and Ptolemy Dynasties) and the Roman and Muslim Rule over Egypt (31 BCE -7^th Century AD)

The Saite dynasty ruled a unified Egypt for about 200 years, until Psammetichus III, the last Saite king, was defeated by Cambyses, the king of Persia, in 525 BCE.  Egypt then became part of the Persian Empire.  Governed by Persian rules such as Darius (522-485 BCE), Egyptians saw little change to how their native pharaohs had ruled.  They were allowed to keep their religious cults, and the building and restoration of temples took place.  However, Darolmeyius’ successor Xerxes (486-465 BCE) was a tyrant and as a result both he and his successors had to deal with increased uprisings from the Egyptians.  In 404 BCE, one of these uprisings was successful which was the beginning of one last period of Egyptian independence under native rulers of the 28-30^th dynasties which lasted about 150 years.

In the mid-4^th century BCE, Egypt was again attacked by Persia and forced back into the Persian Empire under the rule of Ataxerxes III in 343 BCE.  This only lasted about 12 years.  In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated the Persian Empire and conquered Egypt.  After his death, Egypt continued to be ruled by Macedonian kings, beginning with Ptolemy and his descendants.  In 31 BCE, the last Ptolemaic Egypt ruler – Cleopatra VII – surrendered Egypt to the Roman general Octavian.  There followed six centuries of Roman rule which included Christianity replacing the Egyptian gods as the official religion of Egypt as well as the rest of the Roman Empire.

In the 7^th century AD, Egypt was conquered by the Arabs, and with the introduction of Islam, the last outward aspects of the ancient Egyptian culture was erased.

Below is a timeline of Egyptian history with a listing of the dynasties that are considered to be part of each period of ancient Egyptian history and some of the more famous pharaohs.  The determination of not only which rulers belonged to which dynasty but also the order of succession has not been an easy task for historians.  Archaeologists generally agree that the most comprehensive history of Egypt came from Manetho, a 3^rd century B.C.E Egyptian priest.  His history of Egypt included a king-list and royal and non-royal biographies.  Unfortunately, some of his book, written in Greek and titled Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt) did not survive, but archaeologists have found copies of the king’s list in other narratives.  Even the king’s list is not completely accurate as names of pharaohs were removed by their successors or completely left off the list for religious or other reasons.  And the hieroglyphics found on tombs and temples also provided clues as to the order of pharaoh succession and the dates they ruled.

The chronological listing of dynasties and who belonged to each dynasty is based on several criteria.  For the most part dynasties were formed whenever a discontinuity – either geographical or genealogical – occurred.  Most of Egypt’s ancient dynasties followed the blood line of the rulers – when a new blood line was established, a new dynasty was formed.  Geographical instances would be when Egypt was first united or when later conflict once again divided the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis of Ancient Egyptian History Timeline

 

Timeframe	Name	Dynasties & Famous Pharaohs	Highlights/ Achievements
5000 – 3100 BCE	Predynastic Period/Prehistoric Period (Egypt before writing)		Egypt split into two kingdoms – Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt Evidence of wine making First use of make-up for non -religious purposes
3100 – 2686 BCE	Early Dynasty	Dynasties I, II	King Menes unified Egypt Memphis became capital of Egypt First use of sailboats First use of ink
2686 – 2181 BCE	Old Kingdom	Dynasties III – VI   King Djoser,   Sneferu   Khufu, Khafra,     Menkaura	First pyramids – Bent and Step Giza Pyramids/Great Pyramid First calendar with 365 days and 12 months created Egypt prospered
2181 – 2055 BCE	1st Intermediate Period	Dynasties VII-X	Karnak Temple built Chaotic Period – Egypt again divided into two kingdoms
2055 – 1786 BCE	Middle Kingdom	Dynasties XI – XIII   Mentuhotep II	Egypt reunited by Mentuhotep II Thebes became capital of Egypt Egypt prospered
1786 – 1567 BCE	2nd Intermediate Period	Dynasties XIII-XVII	Another unsettled period in Egypt – conquered by the Hyksos – driven out of Egypt in 1750 BCE
1567 – 1085 BCE	New Kingdom	Dynasties XVIII – XX   Tutmose III   Hatshepsut,     Amenhotep III   Akhenaten   Tutankhamun     Seti I   Ramses II   Ramses III, IV, IX,   XI	Egypt became world’s first great empire Battle of Kadesh and Treaty of Kadesh Luxor Temple Complex King Tut’s Tomb built in Valley of the Kings Temple of Rameses II built in Abu Simbel Advances in Medicine
1085 – 644 BCE	3rd Intermediate Period	Dynasties XXI-XXV	Local government replace centralized rule of the pharaohs Nubia seized power
644 – 333 BCE	Late Period	Dynasties XXVI-XXXI	Egypt became part of Persian Empire Dynasties 29-30 were last of Egypt’s independence
332 BCE – 641 AD	Greco-Roman Period	Macedonian Kings –   Alexander the Great Ptolemaic Dynasty   Cleopatra VII, Ptolemy II, VIII, XII Roman Emperors   Augustus	Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE 31 AD Cleopatra surrendered Egypt to Rome Temple of Horus Kom Ombo Temple Isis Temple, Philae
641 – 1517	Muslim Rule		Last aspects of ancient Egyptian culture erased
1517 – 1882	Ottoman Rule
1882 – 1954	British Rule
1954 -- Present	Republic of Egypt