Ancient Egypt: The Land of the Gods of Balance and Harmony

Q: Where did the name of Egypt come from?

"Egypt" comes from the Greek name "Aegyptos," which was their pronunciation of the Egyptian name for the city of Memphis.

Q: How old is the Egyptian culture?

Egyptian culture dates back to circa 6000 BCE during the Predynastic Period, but the land was settled before then, and some level of civilization had already been established.

Q: Is Egypt an African country?

Egypt is located in North Africa and so is considered an African country.

Q: Who built the pyramids?

The pyramids were built by Egyptian skilled and non-skilled workers either for pay or as part of community service owed to the king. They were not built by slaves.

Joshua J. Mark

Definition

Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is home to one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. The name "Egypt" comes from the Greek Aegyptos, which was the Greek pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian name Hwt-Ka-Ptah ("Mansion of the Spirit of Ptah"), originally the name of the city of Memphis. Memphis was the first capital of Egypt and a famous religious and trade center; its high status is attested to by the Greeks alluding to the entire country by that name. To the ancient Egyptians themselves, their country was simply known as Kemet, which means "Black Land", so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River where the first settlements began.

More about: Ancient Egypt

Timeline

c. 6000 BCE
Nile River Valley first inhabited.
c. 6000 BCE
Burial of the dead in Egypt.
c. 6000 BCE
Earliest Egyptian mastabas dug at Saqqara.
5500 BCE
Oldest faience workshop in Egypt founded at Abydos.
5000 BCE
Organised farming begins in Egypt.
c. 4000 BCE
Depictions of gods and afterlife on walls of Egyptian tombs.
c. 3414 BCE - c. 3100 BCE
Xois founded as a city during the 1st Dynasty.
c. 3200 BCE
Hieroglyphic script developed in Egypt.
c. 3200 BCE - c. 3000 BCE
Probable dates for creation of Narmer Palette.
3150 BCE - 2613 BCE
Early Dynastic Period in Egypt. First Kings.
c. 3150 BCE - c. 3100 BCE
Reign of Menes, aka Narmer, the first king who is thought to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt.
c. 3150 BCE
King Menes unifies Egypt through conquest.
3100 BCE - 2181 BCE
Xois inscribed on Palermo Stone as an ancient city during the 5th Dynasty.
c. 3000 BCE
Trade already established between Syria and Egypt.
c. 2670 BCE
Reign of King Djoser in Egypt, builder of the first pyramid.
c. 2670 BCE - c. 2650 BCE
The Step Pyramid is built by Imhotep under reign of King Djoser.
c. 2667 BCE - c. 2600 BCE
Attributed dates of Imhotep's medical and architectural achievements.
2667 BCE - 2648 BCE
Imhotep in Egypt writes medical texts describing diagnosis and treatment of 100 diseases and 48 injuries.
c. 2613 BCE - c. 2181 BCE
The Period of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
c. 2560 BCE
The Great Pyramid of Giza is constructed by Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops).
c. 2500 BCE
The Great Sphinx of Giza is built.
c. 2181 BCE - c. 2040 BCE
First Intermediate Period in Egypt.
2064 BCE - 1986 BCE
Twin Dynasty Wars in Egypt.
1800 BCE
Bronze working introduced to Egypt.
c. 1800 BCE
The Kahun Gynecological Papyrus deals with women's health and contraception.
1783 BCE
Avaris is built and set as capital of Hyksos.
c. 1782 BCE - c. 1570 BCE
Second Intermediate Period in Egypt.
1700 BCE
The Kingdom of Kush is formed to the south of Egypt.
1650 BCE - 1550 BCE
Xois serves as capital of the 14th Dynasty.
c. 1600 BCE
The Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text, is written, supposedly as a copy of Imhotep's earlier work.
c. 1570 BCE - c. 1069 BCE
The New Kingdom of Egypt.
c. 1570 BCE
Ahmose I defeats and expels the Hyksos from Egypt and destroy their capital Avaris.
c. 1550 BCE - 1070 BCE
Composition of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
1504 BCE - 1492 BCE
The Egyptian Empire reaches greatest extent under Thutmose I.
1500 BCE
The Egyptian Empire extends to the Euphrates.
1479 BCE - 1458 BCE
Queen Hatshepsut rules Egypt.
c. 1458 BCE
Kadesh and Megiddo lead a Canaanite alliance against the Egyptian invasion by Thutmose III.
1458 BCE - 1425 BCE
Reign of Thutmose III in Egypt.
c. 1457 BCE
Battle of Megiddo: Thutmose III of Egypt defeats a coalition of Canaan, Kadesh, Mitanni, and Megiddo led by Durusha, king of Kadesh.
16 Apr 1457 BCE
The Battle of Megiddo is fought between the Egyptian Empire under Pharaoh Thutmose III and a Canaanite coalition over territorial expansion by the Egyptians, resulting in a decisive victory for Thutmose III. It is considered the first battle in history recorded in detail.
c. 1386 BCE - c. 1353 BCE
Reign of Amenhotep III of Egypt.
1353 BCE - c. 1336 BCE
Reign of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father, 'Heretic King' of Egypt.
c. 1336 BCE - c. 1327 BCE
Reign of Tutankhamun with Ankhsenamun as queen.
c. 1334 BCE
Tutankhamun initiates religious reforms returning Egypt to traditional belief structure.
1327 BCE - 1323 BCE
Reign of Ay in Egypt.
c. 1320 BCE
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Horemheb, succeeds Ay as ruler of Egypt
c. 1320 BCE - 1292 BCE
Reign of Horemheb in Egypt, Tutankhamun's name erased from record.
c. 1303 BCE
Birth of Ramesses II of Egypt.
1295 BCE - 1294 BCE
The reign of Ramesses I in Egypt.
1295 BCE - 1188 BCE
The 19th Dynasty of Egypt.
1294 BCE - 1279 BCE
The reign of Seti I in Egypt.
1279 BCE - 1212 BCE
Reign of Ramesses II (The Great) in Egypt.
1274 BCE
Battle of Kadesh between Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittites.
c. 1264 BCE - c. 1244 BCE
Probable dates for the construction of Abu Simbel.
1258 BCE
The Treaty of Kadesh between Egyptians and Hittites. The world's first peace treaty.
c. 1244 BCE - c. 1224 BCE
Other probable dates for the construction of Abu Simbel.
1184 BCE - 1153 BCE
Reign of Ramesses III, Pharaoh of Egypt.
1180 BCE
The Sea Peoples begin increased incursions into Egypt.
1180 BCE - 1178 BCE
Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty fortifies Xois against the threat of the invading Sea Peoples.
1178 BCE
Ramesses III defends Egypt from the Sea Peoples on the shores at Xois, defeating them completely.
c. 1069 BCE - 525 BCE
Third Intermediate Period in Egypt.
750 BCE
Iron working is introduced to Egypt.
712 BCE - 671 BCE
Egypt is ruled by the Kushite dynasty.
671 BCE
Second Egyptian Campaign, Assyrian army successfully captures Memphis and conquers Egypt.
671 BCE
Egypt is conquered by Assyria.
667 BCE - 665 BCE
Ashurbanipal wages war in Egypt to put down rebellions.
664 BCE
Psamtik I becomes Pharoah in Egypt.
653 BCE
Egypt expels Assyrians.
601 BCE
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon unsuccessfully attempts to invade Egypt.
c. 525 BCE
Imhotep is deified in Egypt.
525 BCE - 404 BCE
Persia conquers Egypt.
525 BCE
Cambyses II of Persia takes the city of Pelusium, conquers Egypt.
520 BCE
Darius of Persia links the Nile and the Red Sea by a canal.
c. 398 BCE - c. 380 BCE
Plato travels in Egypt, Cyrene, Italy, Syracuse and Sicily.
341 BCE
The Persians complete conquest of Egypt.
332 BCE
Alexander the Great conquers Phoenicia and turns toward Egypt.
331 BCE
Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great without resistance.
Jan 331 BCE
Alexander the Great founds Alexandria at the port town of Rhakotis in Egypt.
323 BCE
Death of Alexander the Great.
323 BCE - 282 BCE
Rule of Ptolemy I Soter.
323 BCE - 31 BCE
The Hellenistic Age. Greek thought and culture infuses with indigenous people.
305 BCE - 285 BCE
Reign of Ptolemy I in Egypt, who initiated the Great Library.
300 BCE
Ptolemy I founds the Museum of Alexandria.
282 BCE - 246 BCE
Reign of Ptolemy II in Egypt, development of Library at Alexandria.
277 BCE - 276 BCE
4,000 Celts are employed in Egypt under Ptolemy II.
259 BCE
Celts in Egypt fail to overthrow Ptolemy II and are starved to death on an island.
247 BCE
The Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos) is completed.
217 BCE
14,000 Celts serve under Ptolemy IV in his victory at Raphia over the Seleucid King Antiochus III.
c. 69 BCE - 12 Aug 30 BCE
Life of Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
47 BCE
Cleopatra VII is sole ruler of Egypt; she presents herself as the goddess Isis.
30 BCE
Egypt becomes province of the Roman Empire.
30 BCE
Death of Cleopatra VII, end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt.
30 BCE - 14 CE
Reign of Augustus Caesar in Rome, restoration of Roman province of Alexandria.
30 BCE - 476 CE
Egypt remains a province of the Roman Empire.
c. 1 CE
First non-stop voyages from Egypt to India.
c. 50 CE - c. 60 CE
Establishment of various Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Egypt, and at least the city of Rome.
232 CE
Emperor Maximinus Thrax commands a legion in Egypt.
c. 527 CE - 646 CE
The Byzantine Empire controls Egypt.
6 Jul 640 CE
The Battle Heliopolis is fought in the region of modern-day Cairo, Egypt between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire for control of Egypt, ending in a Rashidun victory and opening up Egypt for conquest by the Muslim Arabs.
646 CE
The Arab Muslims conquer Egypt under Caliph Umar.
18 Feb 1229 CE
The Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, and al-Kamil, the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, ending the Sixth Crusade. Negotiations between Frederick II and al-Kamil were conducted in secrecy to avoid complications from others who might object to the terms. The two leaders turned out to be right as the treaty, once publicized, was received negatively by both Christians and Muslims.
15 Jul 1799 CE
The Rosetta Stone is found near Rashid (Rosetta) Egypt by French Lieutenant Pierre-Francois Bouchard, an engineer in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. The stone, inscribed in Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek, allowed for the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics and opened up the history of ancient Egypt to the modern age.
27 Sep 1822 CE
Jean-Francois Champollion publishes his work on deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in a letter to the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, opening up the history of ancient Egypt to the modern world.
25 Apr 1859 CE
British and French engineers officially break ground for the construction of the Suez Canal at Port Said, Egypt. The canal took a little over ten years to complete, opening on 17 November 1869.
17 Nov 1869 CE
The Suez Canal in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez, officially opens with a length of 120.1 miles (193.3 km) under the control of France. It was nationalized in 1956 and has since been managed by Egypt's Suez Canal Authority.
24 Dec 1871 CE
The opera *Aida* by Giuseppe Verdi premieres at the Khedivial Opera House, Cairo, Egypt, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Set in the period of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the opera was staged with elaborate sets and costumes and was highly acclaimed. It remains one of the most popular and oft-performed operas in the world.
22 Feb 1881 CE
Cleopatra's Needle is erected in Central Park, New York City. The obelisk arrived in New York, as a gift from Egypt, in July 1880 but the weight and size of the monument required over five months to move it to the chosen site in Central Park on the Greywacke Knoll near the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
6 Dec 1912 CE
The famous Nefertiti Bust is discovered at Amarna, Egypt by a German team led by archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in the ruins of the ancient workshop of the sculptor Thutmose. The bust, dated to circa 1345 BCE, depicts Queen Nefertiti, Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and is presently on exhibit at the Museum of Berlin, Germany.
4 Nov 1922 CE
British archaeologist Howard Carter discovers Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, when the first steps are uncovered. It was the most intact royal tomb ever discovered in Egypt and ignited a world-wide interest in ancient Egyptian civilization.
3 Jan 1924 CE
Archaeologist Howard Carter uncovers the sarcophagus of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. Although the tomb was discovered in November 1922, excavation proceeded slowly, and the famous sarcophagus was not found until January 1924.
31 Aug 1950 CE
TWA Flight 903, from India to the United States, crashes due to engine failure in Egypt, killing all 55 people on board.
9 Jan 1960 CE
Construction of the Aswan High Dam begins in Egypt, replacing the Aswan Low Dam built between 1898-1902, creating Lake Nasser, among the world's largest reservoirs at almost 2,000 square miles and necessitating the relocation of ancient Egyptian sites such as Abu Simbel.