Ancient Egypt: Introduction

Hello Steemit!

My first post will be starting a series discussing the history of the Ancient Egyptian civilization and its people. This series will have several parts and I will try to tell their story chronologically from the early settlers along the Nile to Egypt's liberation from the Romans.

The history of Ancient Egypt can be very confusing at times and many events seem very similar to each other even over thousands of years. There were three main relatively “stable” periods for the Egyptian Empire where Egypt flourished. These periods are known as The Old Kingdom, The Middle Kingdom and The New Kingdom. Between these kingdoms there were intermediary periods of instability due to droughts, floods, civil wars or foreign invasions.

Therefore, I have created a rough timeline below to help put things into perspective!

Figure 1: Timeline of Ancient Egyptian History

The Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for more than 5000 years, during which they made amazing breakthroughs in construction, agriculture, sailing, writing and state administration. Moreover, they were able to endure many hardships and catastrophes including many foreign and civil wars. Ancient Egypt was conquered and ruled by the Nubians, Libyans, Hyksos (Canaanites), Persians, Greeks and finally the romans.

Here are some notable events/people from each period:

Early Dynastic

Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt.
King Menes (also known as Narmer) is crowned the first Pharaoh of Egypt.
The Narmer Palate is created.
Development of the Hieroglyphics as a form of writing.

Old Kingdom

Construction of the very first pyramid (Step Pyramid).
Construction of the Pyramids of Giza.
Construction of the Sphinx.

1st Intermediary Period

The first civil war after unification.
Egypt splits back to Upper and Lower Egypt.

Middle Kingdom

Mentuhotep II reunites Egypt.
Farming, Culture, Religion & Arts flourish in Egypt.
Hyksos move in to Egypt Delta.

2nd Intermediary Period

Egypt falls under Hyksos and Nubian rule.
Introduction of the composite bow and war chariot.
Ahmose I defeats the Hyksos after many years of fighting.

New Kingdom

Hatshepsut, a queen disguised as a king comes to power.
Tuthmosis III launches Egypt’s biggest military campaigns ever.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti come to power, create a new religion.
Tutankhamun restores the previous gods and traditional religion.
Ramses II launches many construction projects and wars with Hittites.

3rd Intermediary Period

Egypt loses grip on conquered lands in the East to Assyrians.
Western Delta falls to Sea People and Libyans.
Kushites (from Nubia) invade from the South.

Late Period

Egypt forms first navy ever with help of Greek mercenaries.
Persian conquest and vassalisation of Egypt.
Egyptians unsuccessfully revolt.

Ptolemaic/Greek Period

Persia cedes Egypt to Alexander the Great.
City of Alexandria founded.
Successor Macedonian Ptolemaic Kingdom.
Library of Alexandria constructed.
Cleopatra VII last Greek ruler in Egypt.

Roman Period

Romans conquer Egypt.
Library of Alexandria sacked and burnt to ground.
Christianity takes root in Egypt.
Egypt falls to the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of Rome.
Muslim Rashidun conquer Egypt ending Roman rule.

Fun Fact: Cleopatra is closer to our modern day than to when the pyramids were built!

Figure 2: Cleopatra Timeline Infograph

If you are thinking that this is too daunting and complex, then don't fret!

I will be making a separate post for each of these periods where we will dive into much more detail to explore this rich and ancient civilization.

Stay Tuned!

Next stop: Early Dynastic Period

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I hope you enjoyed this post :)
I am huge history & geography geek and I want to bring you some entertainment and hopefully education, through creating content about topics I am very passionate about.