Egypts Timeline

Predynastic
About 5500-3000 B.C.
Climatic change about 7,000 years ago turns most of Egypt—except for along the Nile—to desert. Farming begins and communities form along the river, with important population centers at Buto, Naqada, and Hierakonpolis. Egypt remains divided into Upper and Lower (southern and northern) Egypt.

Early Dynastic
(Dynasties I-III)
2950-2575 B.C.
Consolidation of Upper and Lower Egypt and founding of Memphis, the first capital. Calendar and hieroglyphic writing created. Royal necropolis located at Abydos; vast cemeteries at Saqqara and other sites.

Old Kingdom
(Dynasties IV-VIII)
2575-2150 B.C.
Age of pyramids reaches zenith at Giza; cult of the sun god Re centered at Heliopolis. Cultural flowering; trade with Mediterranean region and brief occupation of Lower Nubia.

First Intermediate Period
(Dynasties IX-XI)
2125-1975 B.C.
Political chaos as Egypt splits into two regions with separate dynasties.

Middle Kingdom
(Dynasties XI-XIV)
1975-1640 B.C.
Reunification by Theban kings. Dynasty XII kings win control of Lower Nubia; royal burials shift north to near Memphis. Major irrigation projects. Classical literary period.

Second Intermediate Period
(Dynasties XV-XVII)
1630-1520 B.C.
Asiatic Hyksos settlers rule the north, introducing the horse and chariot; Thebans rule the south.

New Kingdom
(Dynasties XVIII-XX)
1539-1075 B.C.
Thebans expel the Hyksos and reunite Egypt. In this "age of empire," warrior kings conquer parts of Syria, Palestine, and Lower Nubia.

Third Intermediate Period
(Dynasties XXI-XXIV)
1075-715 B.C.
Egypt is once again divided. The high priests of Amun control Thebes; ethnic Libyans rule elsewhere.

Late Period
(Dynasties XXV-XXX)
715-332 B.C.
Nubians from Kush conquer Egypt; Egypt reunited under Saite dynasty. Persia rules in fifth century B.C. Egypt independent from 404 to 343 B.C.

Greco-Roman Period
332 B.C.-A.D. 395
Ptolemies rule after the death of Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. Dramatic growth of population and agricultural output. Roman emperors build many temples, depicting themselves in the Egyptian style.

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