Civilization · c. 3100 BCE – 30 BCE
Ancient Egypt
Three thousand years of pharaonic civilization along the Nile.
Capital: Memphis, Thebes, Alexandria · North Africa
Overview
Ancient Egyptian civilization endured longer than any other in the ancient world. Its religion, hieroglyphic writing, monumental architecture and dynastic god-kingship remained recognizably continuous from Narmer to Cleopatra.
Timeline
- c. 3100 BCENarmer unifies Upper and Lower Egypt
- c. 2686 – 2181 BCEOld Kingdom — the pyramids
- c. 2055 – 1650 BCEMiddle Kingdom
- c. 1550 – 1069 BCENew Kingdom — imperial Egypt
- 332 BCEAlexander conquers Egypt
- 30 BCERoman annexation after Cleopatra
Rulers
Built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara
Great Pyramid of Giza
Female pharaoh of great trade expeditions
Religious revolutionary of Amarna
Longest reign of the New Kingdom
Last active Ptolemaic ruler
Wars & conflicts
- Battle of Megiddo (1457 BCE)
- Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE)
- Sea Peoples invasions (1200s BCE)
Architecture
Pyramids, mastabas, mortuary temples, hypostyle halls. The Great Pyramid of Khufu was the world's tallest building for nearly 4,000 years.
Religion
Polytheistic, centered on Ra, Osiris, Isis and Horus. Elaborate mortuary rites and mummification prepared the ka for the afterlife.
Economy
Agrarian, based on the Nile's annual flood; grain, linen, papyrus and gold. State-managed labor built monuments in the off-season.
Technology
Hieroglyphic and hieratic writing, medicine, geometry, sun-drying and bronze metallurgy.
Art
Formal frontal painting, monumental stone sculpture, jewelry of gold and lapis lazuli.
Influence
Shaped Greek, Roman and Coptic Christian traditions; obsessed European imaginations from the Renaissance onward.
Decline
Successive Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman conquests ended native pharaonic rule.
Key sites
- Giza
- Karnak
- Luxor
- Valley of the Kings
- Abu Simbel
- Saqqara