Egypt begins with Pharaoh Narmer who, in about 3100 B.C., unified Egypt. At the time, Egypt meant the area from the first cataract, near Aswan, to the Nile delta. [See Map.]
Introduction to the Timeline of Egyptian Pharaohs
In the 3rd century B.C., an Egyptian priest named Manetho listed 30 royal dynastic houses of ancient Egypt. Manetho's work has not survived, but an epitome (summary) of it has. The epitome was taken from versions of Manetho's chronology that were copied in the 3rd-8th centuries A.D. Unfortunately, there are gaps in the chronology and the lengths of many of the pharaohs' reigns are unknown, but it's not entirely hopeless. For the pharaohs of the 2nd millennium B.C. forward, other techniques and artifacts help date the pharaohs. The techniques are more limited for the earlier pharaohs, so their dates are more speculative.Sources
Dates for the first dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs come from
"Radiocarbon Chronology of Archaic Egypt," by Fekri A. Hassan. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 39, No. 3. (Jul., 1980), pp. 203-207.Dates for the dynasties, in general, come from
Major epochal events come from BBC History Online.
"The Chronology of Ancient Egypt," by K.A. Kitchen. Archaeology, Vol. 23, No. 2. (Oct., 1991), pp. 201-208.
Major Divisions of Ancient Egyptian History
- Late Predynastic Period
3100-2950 B.C.
First hieroglyphs - Early Dynastic
2950-2575
Step pyramid built at Saqqara - Old Kingdom
2575-2150
- First Intermediate Period
2125-1975 (alternately: 2160-2055)
Memphis rules Egypt in the north and Thebes in the south - Middle Kingdom
2055 or 1975-1640
Egypt reunited and conquers Lower Nubia. - Second Intermediate Period
1630-1520
The Hyksos - New Kingdom
1539-1075
Empire in the Near East, Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamen and Ramessid Period - Third Intermediate Period
1075-715
Nubians conquer Egypt - Late Period
715-332
Assyrians, Persians conquer Egypt - Ptolemaic
332-30
Greeks conquer Egypt, Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra - Roman
30 B.C.- A.D. 395
- Byzantine
Next Page: 2 - Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms | 3 - New Kingdom and Beyond
