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Over time, Egypt’s villages formed into larger kingdoms. By around 3100 B.C., Egypt was united into a single, powerful kingdom.
King Menes began the first Egyptian dynasty. A dynasty is a series of rulers who are all from the same family. All told, Egypt had more than 30 dynasties. Some time between 1554 and 1304 B.C., Egyptians began to call their king “pharaoh.” That term comes from words that mean “great house.” At first, Egyptians thought of their rulers as living gods. Later, they saw them as the link between the gods and the people.
◀ Almost every year for two decades during the 1400s B.C., King Thutmose III led his army into Asia. He was the stepson of Queen Hatshepsut. He was a great general and leader. He conquered Palestine, Syria, and the African kingdoms of Kush and Nubia. Egypt took slaves, copper, gold, ivory, and ebony from these conquests.
Ancient Egypt had many queens. Hatshepsut, wife of King Thutmose II, stands out. She was a pharaoh, too. She became a powerful ruler in her own right and built one of Egypt’s grandest temples, at Thebes. ▶
▲ Another important ruler was Akhenaten. During his reign, he said Egyptians had to worship only the Sun god Aten. His wife, Queen Nefertiti, helped make that happen. Above is Nefertiti adoring the rays of Aten.
◀ Near the end of the New Kingdom, Egypt began to fall apart. Weak rulers had trouble staying in control. Egypt broke into small states. It lost its foreign lands. Because it was weak, other countries attacked. By 1070 B.C., foreigners ruled Egypt. Alexander the Great made Egypt part of the Greek empire in 332 B.C.
Check It Out!
One of Egypt’s most famous rulers is Cleopatra. When did she rule?
Cleopatra ruled Egypt from 51 B.C. to 30 B.C. In about 37 B.C., she married Mark Antony, a co-ruler of Rome. They combined their military forces and went to war against another co-ruler of Rome, Octavian. They lost the fight, and Octavian made Egypt a province of the Roman Empire.
Way Back When
First Intermediate Period
ca. 2130–1980 b.c.
Central government in Egypt collapses
Middle Kingdom
ca. 1980–1630 b.c.
High point of Egyptian literature
ca. 1800–1750 b.c. ▶
Law code of king Hammurabi of Babylon
Second Intermediate Period
ca. 1630–1523 b.c.
Asian nomads called Hyksos rule northern Egypt
New Kingdom ca. 1539–1075 B.C.
ca. 1478–1458 b.c.
Reign of Egyptian female pharaoh Hatshepsut
ca. 1458 b.c. ▶
Thutmose III extends Egypt’s empire to its greatest size
ca. 1279–1213 b.c. ▶
Reign of Egypt’s Ramses II, builder of more temples than any other pharaoh
◀ ca. 1332–1322 b.c.
Reign of Tutankhamen, Egypt
◀ ca. 1150–550 b.c.
Olmec civilization on Gulf Coast of Mexico
The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx is a human-headed lion that was carved out of natural bedrock. It is about as high as a six-story building and as long as a city block. Located in Giza, the Sphinx guards the front of the pharaoh Khafra’s pyramid.
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