Egypt (country)

Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is among the oldest civilizations on earth. The name 'Egypt' comes from the Greek Aegyptos which was the Greek pronunciation of the Egyptian name 'Hwt-Ka-Ptah' (which means "House of the Spirit of Ptah", who was a very early God of the Ancient Egyptians). In the early Old Kingdom, Egypt 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. Later, the country was known simply as Misr which means 'country', a name still in use by Egyptians for their nation in the present day. Egypt thrived for thousands of years (from c. 8,000 BCE to c. 525 BCE) as an independent nation whose culture was famous for great cultural advances in every area of human knowledge, from the arts to science to technology and religion. The great monuments which Egypt is still celebrated for reflect the depth and grandeur of Egyptian culture which influenced so many ancient civilizations, among them Greece and Rome.

Evidence of overgrazing of cattle, on the land which is now the Sahara Desert, has been dated to about 8,000 BCE. This evidence, along with artifacts discovered, points to a thriving agricultural civilization in the region at that time. As the land was mostly arid even then, hunter-gathering nomads sought the cool of the water source of the Nile River Valley and began to settle there sometime prior to 6000 BCE. Organized farming began in the region c. 5000 BCE and communities known as the Badarian Culture began to flourish alongside the river. Industry developed at about this same time as evidenced by faience workshops discovered at Abydos dating to c. 5500 BCE. The Badarian were followed by the Amratian, the Gerzean, and the Naqada cultures (also known as Naqada I, Naqada II, and Naqada III), all of which contributed significantly to the development of what became Egyptian civilization. The written history of the land begins at some point between 3400 and 3200 BCE when Hieroglyphic Script is developed by the Naqada Culture III. By 3500 BCE mummification of the dead was in practice at the city of Hierakonpolis and large stone tombs built at Abydos. The city of Xois is recorded as being already ancient by 3100-2181 BCE as inscribed on the famous Palermo Stone. As in other cultures world-wide, the small agrarian communities became centralized and grew into larger urban centers.

History

Ancient Egypt (Prehistory–332 BCE)

• Predynastic Period (Prehistory to 3100 BCE)
• Early Dynastic Period (3100 BCE–2600 BCE)
• Old Kingdom (2600 BCE–2150 BCE)
• First Intermediate Period (2150 BCE–2050 BCE)
• Middle Kingdom (2050 BCE–1600 BCE )
• Second Intermediate Period (1600 BCE–1500 BCE)
• New Kingdom (1500 BCE–1000 BCE)
• Third Intermediate Period (1050 BCE–685 BCE)
• Late Period (685 BCE–332 BCE)
  • Saite Period (685 BCE–525 BCE)
  • Achaemenid Persian Era (525 BCE–402 BCE)
  • 28th-30th Dynasties (402 BCE–343 BCE)
  • Achaemenid Persian Reconquest (343 BCE–332 BCE)

Macedonian Era (332 BCE–309 BCE)

• Alexander III (332 BCE–323 BCE)
• Alexander IV (323-309 BCE)

Ptolemaic Era (305 BCE–30 BCE)

• Ptolemy I Soter (305 BCE–282 BCE)
• Ptolemy II Philadelphos (284 BCE–246 BCE)
• Ptolemy III Euergetes I (246 BCE–222 BCE)
• Ptolemy IV Philopator (222 BCE–204 BCE)
• Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204 BCE–180 BCE)
• Ptolemy VI Philometor (180 BCE–164 BCE, 163 BCE–145 BCE)
• Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator (never reigned)
• Ptolemy VIII (170 BCE–163 BCE, 145 BCE–116 BCE)
• Cleopatra II (132 BCE–124 BCE)
• Ptolemy IX Philometor Soter II (Lathyros) (116 BCE–107 BCE, 88 BCE–81 BCE)
• Ptolemy X Alexander I (107 BCE–88 BCE)
• Berenice III Philopator (81 BCE–80 BCE)
• Ptolemy XI Alexander II (80 BCE)
• Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (Auletes) (80 BCE–58 BCE)
• Cleopatra V Tryphaena (58 BCE–57 BCE)
• Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (Auletes) (55 BCE–51 BCE)
• Cleopatra VII Thea Neotera (51 BCE–30 BCE)
  • Arsinoe IV (48 BCE–47 BCE)
  • Ptolemy XIV (47 BCE–44 BCE)
  • Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44 BCE–30 BCE)

Roman Era (30 BCE–330 CE)

Byzantine Era (330 CE–618 CE)

Sassanid Persian Era (618–629)

Byzantine Reconquest (629-639)

Early Arab Era (639–1517)

• Caliphate Era (639–1175)
  • Rashidun Period (639–661)
  • Umayyad Period (661–750)
  • Abbasid Period (750–909)
  • Fatimid Period (909–1175)
• Ayyubid Period (1175–1250)
• Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517)
  • Bahri Period (1250–1380)
  • Burji Period (1380–1517)

Ottoman Era (1517 to 1805)

• Early Turkish Period (1517–1630)
• Later Turkish Period (1630–1795)
• French Occupation (1795–1805)

Muhammad Ali and his successors (1805–1882)

• Muhammad Ali (1805–1848)
• Ibrahim (1848)
• Muhammad Ali (restored) (1848–1849)
• Abbas I (1849–1854)
• Said (1854–1863)
• Ismail (1863–1867)
• Khedives of Egypt (1867–1914)
• Ismail (1867–1879)
• Tawfiq (1879–1892)
• Abbas II (1892–1914)

Modern Egypt (1882–present)

• British Occupation (1882–1953)
• Nasser Era (1953–1971)
• Sadat Era (1971–1981)
• Mubarak Era (1981–present)