The history of ancient Egypt runs from about 3100 BC to 30 BC. Egyptologists divide it into three great kingdoms separated by periods of division, followed by foreign rule. The dates below are approximate, especially for the earliest periods, and scholars still argue about them by decades.
Egypt's map was unusual. The country was a green strip along the Nile, a few kilometres wide in most places, with desert on both sides. The south was Upper Egypt, the Delta in the north was Lower Egypt, and the first cataract at Aswan was the traditional frontier with Nubia. For most of its history Egypt stayed inside these limits; only in the New Kingdom did it become an empire reaching Syria.
Ancient Egypt timeline: the periods in order
| Period | Dates | What happened | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Dynastic Period | c. 3100–2686 BC | Upper and Lower Egypt are united; Memphis is the capital | 2900 BC on the globe |
| Old Kingdom | c. 2686–2181 BC | The age of the pyramids | 2560 BC on the globe |
| First Intermediate Period | c. 2181–2055 BC | Rival rulers at Herakleopolis and Thebes | 2100 BC on the globe |
| Middle Kingdom | c. 2055–1650 BC | Reunification, forts in Nubia | 1900 BC on the globe |
| Second Intermediate Period | c. 1650–1550 BC | The Hyksos rule the north | 1580 BC on the globe |
| New Kingdom | c. 1550–1069 BC | The Egyptian empire, Thebes and the Valley of the Kings | 1450 BC on the globe |
| Third Intermediate Period | c. 1069–664 BC | Division; Libyan and Kushite pharaohs | 800 BC on the globe |
| Late Period | 664–332 BC | Saite revival, two Persian conquests | 600 BC on the globe |
| Ptolemaic Kingdom | 332–30 BC | Greek rulers in Alexandria | 250 BC on the globe |
| Roman Egypt | from 30 BC | A province of the Roman Empire | 14 on the globe |
Unification and the pyramids
Around 3100 BC a king of the south, known as Narmer, brought the Nile valley and the Delta under one crown (the unification of Egypt). This made Egypt one of the first territorial states in the world. The capital at Memphis stood where the two lands met.
The Old Kingdom is the age of the great monuments. Under Djoser, the official Imhotep is credited with the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, around 2670 BC. About a century later Khufu built the Great Pyramid of Giza, originally about 146 metres high. The Great Pyramid was the tallest structure on Earth for almost 3,900 years.
Royal power weakened towards the end of the period, as provincial governors grew stronger and low Nile floods probably brought famine. After about 2181 BC the country split, with one line of kings at Herakleopolis and another at Thebes.
The Middle Kingdom and the Hyksos
Around 2055 BC Mentuhotep II of Thebes reunited the country. His successors drained land in the Faiyum, built a chain of forts in Nubia and produced some of the finest Egyptian literature.
The next crisis came from the north-east. Settlers from the Levant gained power in the Delta, and around 1650 BC their rulers, the Hyksos, took control of northern Egypt from their capital at Avaris. They are often credited with spreading the horse and chariot in Egypt. A family of Theban kings fought back, and Ahmose I drove out the Hyksos around 1550 BC.
The New Kingdom: Egypt as an empire
After the Hyksos, Egypt no longer stayed behind its natural borders. The pharaohs of the New Kingdom conquered Nubia and pushed into Canaan and Syria, where they met Mitanni and later the Hittites.
- Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh for about twenty years and sent a famous expedition to Punt.
- Thutmose III, her successor, won the Battle of Megiddo and took Egypt's empire to its greatest extent, from Syria to the upper Nile. 1450 BC on the globe
- Akhenaten tried to replace the old gods with the worship of the sun disc, the Aten, and built a new capital at Amarna (his religious reform). His queen was Nefertiti.
- Tutankhamun restored the old religion and died at about nineteen. He is famous mainly because Howard Carter found his tomb almost intact in 1922.
- Ramesses II reigned for more than sixty years. He fought the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC, where both sides claimed victory, later signed the peace treaty with them and built the temples of Abu Simbel. 1274 BC on the globe
Around 1175 BC Ramesses III repelled the Sea Peoples during the Late Bronze Age collapse, but the empire in Asia was lost soon afterwards.
Division and foreign rule
In the Third Intermediate Period, priests of Amun ruled Thebes while other kings ruled the Delta. Pharaohs of Libyan descent held power for about two centuries. Then the south took its revenge: around 727 BC Piye, king of Kush in what is now Sudan, led the Kushite conquest of Egypt. The Kushites were driven out by the Assyrians, who sacked Thebes in the 660s BC.
Psamtik I freed Egypt from Assyria and reunited it, but independence did not last. In 525 BC the Persian king Cambyses conquered Egypt, and it became a province of the Achaemenid Empire. Egypt rebelled and was independent again from 404 BC, until the Persians returned in 343 BC. Nectanebo II, who lost that war, is usually counted as the last native pharaoh.
Alexander, the Ptolemies and Cleopatra
In 332 BC Alexander the Great took Egypt without a major battle and soon ordered the founding of Alexandria. After his death his general Ptolemy kept Egypt and in 305 BC proclaimed himself king. His dynasty ruled for almost three centuries as Greek-speaking pharaohs, and Alexandria, with its Library and Lighthouse, became the leading city of the Mediterranean. The Rosetta Stone, the key to reading hieroglyphs, is a decree from this period.
The last ruler of the line was Cleopatra. Cleopatra was not Egyptian: her Ptolemaic dynasty was Macedonian Greek. She allied herself with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony, but Octavian defeated them at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. After the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, Egypt became a Roman province and the empire's great source of grain.
Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid.
For the rest of the ancient world at the same time, see the ancient world map.
Questions
How long did ancient Egypt last?
About 3,000 years, from the unification around 3100 BC to the Roman conquest in 30 BC. Its culture and hieroglyphic writing survived into the Roman period.
What are the three kingdoms of ancient Egypt?
The Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC), the age of the pyramids; the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC); and the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 BC), when Egypt was an empire. Between them came the Intermediate Periods, when the country was divided.
Who was the first pharaoh of Egypt?
Tradition names Menes, and most scholars identify him with Narmer or his successor Hor-Aha, around 3100 BC.
Who was the last pharaoh of Egypt?
Cleopatra VII, who died in 30 BC, was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The last native Egyptian pharaoh was Nectanebo II, who lost the country to Persia in 343 BC.