Egyptian Civilization
Senior 1 · History and Citizenship
Egyptian Civilization
Lesson 3 of 5
25 min
Ancient Egypt lasted longer than any other civilisation of its kind: about 3,000 years from the first united kingdom to the Roman conquest. Historians divide this long history into periods. Coloured blocks on the timeline are the "kingdoms", when Egypt was united and strong; grey blocks are "intermediate periods", when it split apart.
Definition
Pharaoh: the king of ancient Egypt. The word comes from per-aa, "great house", first used for the palace and later for the king himself. Egyptians believed the pharaoh was the god Horus on earth. Example: Ramesses II.
Definition
Dynasty: a series of rulers from the same family. Egyptian history is counted in about 30 dynasties, grouped into the periods on the timeline. Example: the 25th Dynasty, the kings from Kush.
Definition
Vizier: the pharaoh's chief minister, who ran the government day to day: taxes, courts, granaries and building projects.
Definition
Intermediate period: a time when central government broke down and Egypt was divided among rival rulers. Example: the Second Intermediate Period, c. 1650 to 1550 BCE.
| Period | Dates (approximate) | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Early Dynastic | c. 3100 to 2686 BCE | Egypt united; capital at Memphis; hieroglyphic writing develops |
| Old Kingdom | 2686 to 2160 BCE | "Age of the Pyramids": Djoser's Step Pyramid (c. 2650 BCE), the Giza pyramids; strong central government |
| First Intermediate | 2160 to 2055 BCE | low floods, famine, rival rulers |
| Middle Kingdom | 2055 to 1650 BCE | Egypt reunited from Thebes; irrigation schemes; trade and forts in Nubia; classic literature |
| Second Intermediate | 1650 to 1550 BCE | the north ruled by the Hyksos from western Asia, who brought horses and chariots |
| New Kingdom | 1550 to 1069 BCE | Egypt's empire, from Syria to Nubia; Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Tutankhamun, Ramesses II; tombs in the Valley of the Kings |
| Third Intermediate | 1069 to 664 BCE | divided rule; from 747 BCE the kings of Kush rule Egypt (25th Dynasty) |
| Late Period | 664 to 332 BCE | last Egyptian dynasties; Persian conquests |
| Ptolemaic | 332 to 30 BCE | Greek-speaking kings after Alexander the Great; Alexandria; the Rosetta Stone (196 BCE); Cleopatra VII dies in 30 BCE and Egypt becomes a Roman province |
Worked example: using the dates
Question: Which lasted longer, the Old Kingdom or the New Kingdom, and by how many years? How long did ancient Egypt last in total?
At the top stood the pharaoh, who owned the land in theory, commanded the army, made laws, led the most important religious ceremonies and was believed to keep ma'at, the order of the universe. Below him the vizier ran the government. The country was divided into about 42 provinces called nomes, each under a governor (a nomarch). Armies of scribes measured fields, counted harvests, collected taxes in grain, recorded court cases and organised workers. Priests ran the temples, which owned land and stores of their own.
Egyptian society was not completely closed. A clever boy from an ordinary family who learned to write could become a scribe and rise in government service. Women could own property, run businesses and go to court, and a few, such as Hatshepsut, ruled as pharaoh.
Important
Egypt was an African civilisation. It grew from farming and herding communities of the Nile valley and the Sahara, traded and fought with Nubia to the south for thousands of years, and for about a century was ruled by kings from Kush.
For centuries Egypt had ruled Nubia, the land of the Kushites, south of the First Cataract. Then the balance changed. Piye, who became king of Kush about 747 BCE and ruled from Napata in today's Sudan, marched north about 728 BCE and brought the divided Egyptian kingdoms under his control. His family ruled Egypt as the 25th Dynasty until about 656 BCE.
The Kushite pharaohs, such as Taharqa (ruled 690 to 664 BCE), restored old temples, built new ones and revived the building of pyramids, which Kushite rulers continued to build in Sudan for another thousand years. They were driven out of Egypt by the invading Assyrians, but their kingdom continued at Napata and later Meroë.
CrashCourse: "Ancient Egypt: Crash Course World History #4". Listen for the idea of ma'at and for why the Nile made Egypt so stable for so long.
Tip
Memory hook: the three kingdoms go O-M-N, "Old Men Nap": Old (pyramids), Middle (reunion and irrigation), New (empire and the Valley of the Kings). Each is followed by an intermediate period of division.
Group task: Compare the government of ancient Egypt with the government of Rwanda today. Find one similarity and two differences. Who held power, how were taxes collected, and how could ordinary people take part?
Practice
Sources and credits
