The ancient Greeks called Egypt Aiguptos, which in Egyptian means the ‘house of the god Ptah’ or ‘Hikuptah’, one of the ancient names of Memphis, a city in ancient Egypt.
Predynastic Early Dynastic Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom Late Period Greco-Roman
The Predynastic Period
The Predynastic Period, before 3050 BCE is the time before any written records. We know that around 5000 BCE small settlements were developing in the Delta and along the fertile Nile Valley. People in these settlements began cultivating grain and domesticating wild animals.
From early times, the land was divided into these two regions known as Upper Egypt in the north (Delta) and Lower Egypt in the south (from Memphis to Aswan). During the Predynastic Period these two areas developed along different lines with distinctive characteristics, but in c. 3000 BCE they were united under one king or pharaoh from the southern region. This is the beginning of the First Dynasty.
The Dynastic Period, consisting of thirty-one dynasties, lasted from unification in c. 3050 BCE until 332 BCE.
The Early Dynastic Period
According to myth, a king by the name of Narmer or Menes unified Upper and Lower Egypt in about 3050 BCE. Even in these early times, the king or pharaoh was regarded as a god rather than human. The pharaoh was at the top of the ‘pyramid’ and beneath him were the ruling élite, minor officials and the peasant farmers.
Memphis was the capital city of the new united Egypt, and Ptah, the creator-god and patron of workers, was the most important deity here. The most important event in this time is the development of writing in the form of the hieroglyphic script. This was to serve a growing public administration.
Objects found in tombs from the time show that the ancient Egyptians were making beautiful vessels, tools, weapons and jewellery. They used stone, especially alabaster, and pottery for different types of food containers. Gold, bone, ivory, stones and lapis lazuli beads from Afghanistan were used for jewellery, and copper for tools and weapons. The early tombs from this period show the beginning of a gradual development towards pyramid architecture.
The Old Kingdom [2686-2181 BCE]
Historically, very little is known about this period apart from the funerary monuments like the pyramids and literary text. This time is known as the ‘Pyramid Age’ – the pyramid being an indication of the absolute power of the god-king.
Djoser of the Third Dynasty erected the first pyramid, the so-called Step Pyramid, at Saqqara. The first pyramids, in their flat-sided form, were built by the kings of the Fourth Dynasty at Meidum, Dashur and the now well-known site of Giza. The Giza complex comprises of the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkau-Ra. The pyramids built for the kings of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties are smaller and this perhaps is an indication of a time period on decline leading up to the First Intermediate Period.
Near the end of the Sixth Dynasty several low inundations of the Nile caused famine. The last Old Kingdom king was Pepi II who ruled Egypt for a very long time. In his time foreigners settled on the borders of Egypt and the authority of the king declined. After his death, Egypt again separated into two sections. This general disorder lasted for less than a hundred years and is called the First Intermediate Period [2181-2040 BCE].
The Middle Kingdom and Hyksos period [2040-1782 BCE]
As in the Predynastic Period, unification came from the south – through a family from Luxor who formed the Eleventh Dynasty. The first prominent ruler from the Twelfth Dynasty was Amenemhat I. Egypt became very prosperous under his reign, and those of his successors. So much so, that Egypt dominated Nubia to the south and traded with Palestine to the north-east.
Many literary masterpieces were written in this period. Expeditions went as far as the exotic land of Punt (possibly the area of modern day Somalia and Eritrea.) The last king of the Twelfth Dynasty was Amenemhat IV followed by a female pharaoh Sobeknefru after him.
The Thirteenth Dynasty, known as the Second Intermediate Period [1782-1570 BCE], started with another upheaval and very short reigns that weakened the power of the throne. At the same time, foreigners called the Hyksos settled in the Nile Delta at Avaris (Tell ed-Dhaba). They were probably from Western Asia as their pottery and building styles reveal strong links with this region.
The New Kingdom [1570-1070 BC]
Once again, a family from the south (Luxor) evicted the Hyksos from the Delta. The rulers who started the process were Kamose, followed by Ahmose. This was the beginning of the Egyptian Empire with armies travelling to Syria-Palestine, Nubia and the kingdoms of Mitanni and the Hittites.
The New Kingdom is well known for exceptional pharaohs like Hatshepsut the female pharaoh, who reigned for a long time on behalf of Thutmose III, a warrior king. He subdued the Canaanites and extended the empire even further into the Ancient Near East. His son Amenhotep II continued his father’s military campaigns. After all the military expeditions, the following king, Amenhotep III, settled down to enjoy the wealth accumulated over the years.
The New Kingdom copied the styles of painting and status from the Middle Kingdom, although these styles evolved to suit the period. The same applies to the written word. This changed when the son of Amenhotep III, initially known as Amenhotep IV, ascended the throne. He changed his name to Akhenaten and with his queen, Nefertiti built a new town called Akhetaten (servant of Aten), where they worshipped the sun disc Aten, as the only god. This is generally referred to as the Amarna period.
The last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty was Tut-ankh-Amun whose tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. He abandoned Akhetaten and the Aten cult and returned to Thebes where he reverted to the old state religion of Amun-Ra. After his death, there was political uncertainty and a military officer by the name of Horemheb became king.
The founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty was Ramses I. The Ramesside dynasty came from Lower Egypt and their god was Seth of the town of Avaris. Under Ramses’ son, Seti I Egypt was restored to its former glory. The king led armies abroad and initiated massive building projects. This was taken even further during the sixty-four years his son, Ramses II, Ramses the Great), reigned. He made Egypt one of the greatest powers of the time. He was also a great builder and his temples can be seen everywhere in Egypt. His favourite wife was Nefertari.
After Ramses the Great, the power of the pharaohs declined. Under Ramses XI Egypt once more disintegrated into the Third Intermediate Period [1070-713 BCE].
Several local dynasties rebelled at this time and foreigners like the Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans infiltrated the country. The Twenty-second Dynasty pharaohs were Libyans like Shoshenq (Shishak of the Bible), while the Twenty-third Dynasty kings ruled from Tanis in the Delta. The following dynasty produced another ruling family of Sais in the western Delta, but the Twenty-fifth Dynasty kings from Kush defeated them (also known as the Black Pharaohs.
The Late Period [713 – 332 BCE]
Kush was an ancient kingdom to the south of Nubia where the new rulers of Egypt resided at Napata. These kings were still buried in pyramids long after the Pyramid Age of the Old Kingdom. The Assyrians ended Kushite rule over Egypt in two invasions – 671 BCE and again in 663 BCE. The last ruler was Taharqa (Tirhaka of the Bible).
The Assyrians appointed Egyptian governors from the town of Sais in the Delta to govern Egypt on their behalf, but these Saite governors of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty achieved independence from Assyria in 656 BCE. With this conquest a new golden era of prosperity and creativity started. Psamtek II subdued the Kushite kings at Napata and forced them to move their capital even further south to Meroe. The era was ended by the Persian invasion in 525 BCE.
The Twenty-seventh Dynasty or First Persian Period lasted until 404 BCE when a prince from Sais rebelled against Persia with the help of Sparta and founded the Twenty-eighth Dynasty. The following dynasties had several rulers and in 343 BCE, the Second Persian Period or Thirty-first Dynasty started with another conquest. The last Persian ruler was Darius III who lost his empire to Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 332 BCE.
Greco-Roman Period [332 BCE – CE 395]
Alexander introduced the rule of the Ptolemies (a Macedonian Greek royal family.) He took the role of a pharaoh, but retained the Persian government system. He also restored damaged temples and built a new city, Alexandria, from where he and his successors ruled Egypt. Once again, Egypt became very prosperous. A centre for learning, including the now destroyed library of Ptolemy II, was established in Alexandria. Rebellion occurred in the Delta and Upper Egypt again, and although it was subdued, Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BCE when the last of the Ptolemaies to rule, Cleopatra VII, committed suicide.
Although the Roman Caesars respected Egyptian traditions and portrayed themselves as pharaohs, the Egyptians were very bitter about the Roman domination of their country. Rebellions were frequent. Anti-Roman agitation became more focused after the introduction of Christianity in the first century CE. The Egyptian Christians were called Copts (from the Greek Aiguptos and Arabic qibt.) They were severely persecuted by Rome, but this al changed when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. In 392 CE, Emperor Theodosius ordered all the pagan temples to be closed and hieroglyphs were no longer used.
The only remaining clues to the history of Egypt were the biblical story of Joseph, reports of the Greek historian Herodotus (who wrote about ancient Egypt) and the reports written by the Egyptian priest, Manetho, in the third century BCE.
The Arabs, who came to Egypt in 641 CE, were Muslims, under the leadership of Amr ibn el-As. They thought the monuments and temples to be magical and full of secrets. This led to the idea of Egypt as a land of sorcery.