Uncertainties &
Any attempt to précis
this vast span of
history inevitably runs
the risk of obscuring
social dynamics and
ordinary people amid a
roll call of dynasties
and great men and women.
While the continuity of
so many aspects of
Egyptian life supports
this...
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The beginnings
Stone tools from the
gravel beds of Upper
Egypt attest to the
presence of
hunter-gathering
hominids in the area
over 250,000 years ago,
when the Sahara was a
savannah that supported
zebras, elephants and
other game. Drastic
climatic changes...
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The Archaic Period
(c.3100-2686 BC)
The Early Dynastic or
Archaic Period was the
formative epoch of
Egyptian civilization.
Its beginnings are a mix
of history and myth,
relating to the
foundation - supposedly
by Menes - of the city
of Memphis , located
at...
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The Old Kingdom
(c.2686-2181 BC)
During the Old Kingdom -
which began with the III
Dynasty (c. 2686-2613
BC) - advances in
technology and
developments in culture
raised Egypt to an
unprecedented level of
civilization. The main
figure of the III...
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The First
Intermediate period
(c.2181-2050 BC)
After Pepi's death,
decades of provincial
rivalry and chaos
ensued, with petty
dynasties claiming the
mantle of the Old
Kingdom. The Greek
historian Manetho
records seventy rulers
during the brief VII
Dynasty (c.2181-2173),
while an unknown...
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The Middle Kingdom
(c.2050-1786 BC)
During Mentuhotpe's
fifty-year reign the
mines and trade routes
were reopened;
incursions into Libya,
Nubia and Sinai resumed;
and arts and crafts
flourished again. His
successors, Mentuhotpe
III and IV, were most
notable for their
expeditions to the
Land...
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The Second
Intermediate Period
(c.1786-1567BC)
Under the XIII Dynasty
Egypt slid into an era
of disorder that
archeologists term the
Second Intermediate
Period , when the
pharaohs lost control of
Nubia and the Delta. The
historian Manetho
records that "peoples of
an obscure race"...
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The New Kingdom
(c.1567-1085 BC)
The XVIII Dynasty
(c.1567-1320 BC) founded
by Ahmosis inaugurated
the New Kingdom , a
period of stability,
wealth and expansion,
whose rulers include
some of the most famous
names in Egyptian
history. During this era
Nubia ...
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The Third
Intermediate Period
(c.1069-664 BC)
This division was
consolidated under the
XXI Dynasty (c.1069-945
BC), the successors of
Herihor and Smendes
ruling their respective
halves of Egypt from
Thebes and Tanis . The
two ruling houses (both
designated as the...
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The Late Period
(c.664-332 BC)
Years before the sack of
Thebes, a new family of
rulers began emerging in
the Delta, which paid
tribute to the Assyrians
until they withdrew from
Egypt to defend their
empire from the
Babylonians, leaving a
vacuum that was filled
by Psammetichus I ...
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The Ptolemies
Alexander's stay in
Egypt was brief, though
long enough for him to
adopt local customs. He
offered sacrifices to
the gods of Memphis and
visited Amun's temple at
Siwa, reorganized the
country's
administration,
installing himself as
pharaoh, and founded...
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Roman rule and the
rise of Christianity
The Roman emperors ,
like the Ptolemies,
adopted many of the
Egyptian cults, building
such monuments as
Trajan's kiosk at
Philae, and temples at
Dendara and Esna. Their
main interest in the new
colony, however, lay in
its potential as
grain...
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The coming of Islam
Apart from a brief
invasion in 616, Egypt
remained under Byzantine
rule until the advance
of Islam in the seventh
century. Led by the
Prophet Mohammed's
successor, Abu Bakr, the
Muslim armies defeated
the Byzantine army in
636....
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The Fatimid era
(969-1171)
The early Fatimid
khalifs ruled half the
Muslim world, with Egypt
forming the central
portion of an empire
that included North
Africa, Sicily, Syria
and western Arabia.
Gohar , commander of the
khalifal forces, built
the city of ...
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The Ayyubids
(1171-1250)
On the death of the last
Fatimid khalif in 1171,
Salah al-Din became
ruler of Egypt. To this
day he remains a hero in
the Arab world, a ruler
renowned for his
personal modesty,
generosity, culture and
political acumen. Having
no pretensions to...
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The Mamlukes
(1250-1517)
Beybars was a commander
among the foreign troops
- the Mamlukes - on whom
the later Ayyubids
depended. Following his
accession,
Mamluke
amirs (military
leaders) retained
control of Egypt for the
next three centuries,
each sultan intriguing
his way up the ranks to
assume the throne by
coup d'état or
assassination.
Ottoman Egypt
(1517-1789)
Even after the Turkish
conquest, the Mamlukes
remained powerful
figures, running the
administration of what
was now a province of
the vast Ottoman Empire.
Government was provided
by a series of pashas ,
career officials trained
in Istanbul. As...
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Mohammed Ali and his
heirs (1805-92)
After the expulsion of
the French a power
struggle ensued, which
was won by Mohammed Ali
, an officer in the
Albanian Corps of the
Ottoman forces. Widely
regarded as the founder
of modern Egypt, his
dynasty was to change
Egypt more radically...
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British occupation &
and nationalism
Britain's stated
intention was to set
Egyptian affairs in
order and then withdraw,
but its interests
dictated a more active
and permanent
involvement. From 1883
to 1907, Egypt was
controlled by the
British Consul-General,
Sir Evelyn Baring, later
...
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The Nasser era
(1956-70)
President Nasser
dominated Egypt and the
Arab world until his
death in 1970, his
ideology of Arab
nationalism and
socialism making him
supremely popular with
the masses (if not
always their governments)
from Iraq to Morocco.
Under his leadership,
Egypt was at the
forefront of
anti-colonialism
, lending support to
liberation struggles in
Algeria, sub-Saharan
Africa and other regions.
Nasser also helped to
set up the
Non-Aligned
Movement with
Yugoslavia, India and
Indonesia in 1955.
Egypt under Sadat
(1970-81)
Nasser's successor was
his vice president,
Anwar Sadat , whom the
ASU hierarchy confirmed
as president in October
1970. His role was to
reform an Egypt
demoralized by defeat in
the 1967 war, economic
stagnation and
austerity. His first...
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The 1980s, 1990s and
beyond: Mubarak's Egypt
policies have for the
most part been continued,
with rather more caution,
by his successor
Hosni Mubarak , who
took office in 1981 and
remains in power at the
time of writing. While
sheer survival counts
for something, the
country's situation is
as precarious as it was
in the early 1970s, when
the writer Naguib
Mahfouz likened Egypt to
a group of drowning men
struggling to reach the
water's surface.
