The History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Pharaonic Period is dated from around 3150 BC, when Lower and Upper Egypt became a unified state, until the country fell under Greek rule in 332 BC.
The civilization of Ancient Egypt lasted longer than the entire span of what we have come to accept a recorded history.
Over three thousand years. During these years the Egyptians developed a multitude of gods and goddesses, Egypt was the source of the first true religion, under the pharaoh Akhenaton. This rich tradition was mostly unknown until the early nineteenth century, when the Egyptian language was finally deciphered.
Egypt's history is split into several different periods according to the dynasty of the ruling of each pharaoh.
The success of ancient Egyptian civilization stemmed partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River Valley. The predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which fueled social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system, the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military intended to defeat foreign enemies and assert Egyptian dominance.
Motivating and organizing these activities was a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a pharaoh who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people in the context of an elaborate system of religious beliefs. The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians include the quarrying, surveying and construction techniques that facilitated the building of monumental pyramids, temples, and obelisks; a system of mathematics, a practical and effective system of medicine, irrigation systems and agricultural production techniques, the first known ships, Egyptian faience and glass technology, new forms of literature, and the earliest known peace treaty. Egypt left a lasting legacy. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world as the numerous collections in the world's museums testify. Its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. |
Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt
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( Predynastic Period ) before 3100 BC.
In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was much less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates. Foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians and this is also the period during which many animals would have been first domesticated.
By about 5500 BC, small tribes living in the Nile valley had developed into a series of cultures demonstrating firm control of agriculture and animal husbandry, and identifiable by their pottery and personal items, such as combs, bracelets, and beads. The largest of these early cultures in upper Egypt.
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| Predynastic Period |
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| Predynastic Period |
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| Predynastic Period |
( Protodynastic Period ) from 3100 to 3000 BC.
The Protodynastic Period is characterised as being the time when ancient Egypt was undergoing the process of political unification, leading to a unified state during the Early Dynastic Period. Furthermore, it is during this time when the Egyptian language was first being recorded in hieroglyphs.
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| Protodynastic Period |
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| Protodynastic Period |
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| Protodynastic Period |
( Early Dynastic Period ) 1st and 2nd Dynasties.
Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms about 3100 BC: Upper and Lower Egypt which were unified into a single kingdom by Menes about 3000 BC.
Ancient Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period was divided into 42 administrative regions.
Egyptian pharaohs had an absolute power and were both secular and religious rulers. They were considered reincarnations of god Horus in life, viewed as divine and worshiped like gods.
The Early Dynastic Period was also marked by the development of hieroglyphic writing. The Early Dynastic Period is often considered a prelude to the great era of the Old Kingdom not only because of the centralized state organization, established tax collection system, taking census, official year numbering.
Early Dynastic Period The third century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still in use today. He chose to begin his official history with the king named Menes who was then believed to have united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The transition to a unified state actually happened more gradually than the ancient Egyptian writers would have us believe, and there is no contemporary record of Menes. Some scholars now believe, however, that the mythical Menes may have actually been the pharaoh Narmer, who is depicted wearing royal regalia on the ceremonial Narmer Palette in a symbolic act of unification. In the Early Dynastic Period , the first of the Dynastic pharaohs solidified their control over lower Egypt by establishing a capital at Memphis, from which they could control the labor force and agriculture of the fertile delta region as well as the lucrative and critical trade routes to the Levant. The increasing power and wealth of the pharaohs during the early dynastic period was reflected in their elaborate mastaba tombs and mortuary cult structures at Abydos, which were used to celebrate the deified pharaoh after his death. The strong institution of kingship developed by the pharaohs served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization.
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| Early Dynastic Period |
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| Early Dynastic Period |
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| Early Dynastic Period |
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