Download MAJOR PERIODS IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY

MAJOR PERIODS IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY
c. 3200 BCE:
3150:
3100:
3050-2686:
2700-2184:
2181-2040:
2040-1782:
1782-1570:
1570-1070:
1069-525:
525-332:
332-30:
Writing begins in Egypt
King Scorpion rules during Dynasty 0
Narmer/Menes unifies Egypt
Early Dynastic Period (Dynasties 1-2)
King Aha rules as first king of Dynasty 1
Old Kingdom Period (Dynasties 3-6)
2668-2649: Djoser rules, builds first pyramid
2600-2500: Pyramid Age (3 major pyramids at Giza)
2589-2566: Khufu (Cheops) reigns, builds Great Pyramid
2558-2532: Khaphre (Chephren) reigns, builds 2nd Pyramid & Sphinx
2532-2504: Menkaure (Mycerinus) reigns, builds 3rd Pyramid
2278-2184: Reign of Pepi II, last king of Dynasty 6
First Intermediate Period (Dynasties 7-10); general unrest
Middle Kingdom Period (Dynasties 11-12)
1991-1962: Amenemhet I rules, first king of Dynasty 12
1971-1926: Senwosert I rules, second king of Dynasty 12
Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties 13-17); Hyksos invade
1573-1570: Last king of Dynasty 17 reigns
New Kingdom Period (Dynasties 18-20), Hyksos expelled from Egypt
1570-1293: Dynasty 18
1500-1483: (Queen) Hatshepsut rules as Pharaoh
1483-1450: Thutmose III succeeds Hatshepsut as Pharaoh
1483: Battle of Megiddo, rebels against Thutmose III defeated
1386-1349: Amenhotep III reigns, initiates “Golden Age” with far-flung
international contacts and foreign trade
1350-1334: Akhenaten & Nefertiti reign, create religious upheaval and
“heresy” (possible beginnings of monotheism)
1334-1325: Tutankhamen, the “boy king,” reigns before early death
1293-1185: Dynasty 19
1279-1212: Ramesses II reigns
1274: Battle of Qadesh, Hittites fought to a draw
1207: First attack of Sea Peoples
1185-1070: Dynasty 20
1182-1151: Ramesses III reigns
1174: Defeat of Sea Peoples
Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties 21-26)
747: Nubian/Kushite Dynasty (Dynasty 25) begins; Piye rules Kush and
then Egypt as first king of Dynasty 25
Late Period (Dynasties 27-31); begins with Persian conquest of Egypt
Hellenistic (Greek/Ptolemaic) Period; begins with Alexander’s conquest of Egypt
305-282: Ptolemy I, Greek general under Alexander, rules Egypt as first
Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Macedonian dynasty
282-246: Ptolemy II reigns, builds Great Lighthouse (Pharos) at
Alexandria
30 BCE-395 CE:
246-222: Ptolemy III reigns, builds Library at Alexandria
222-205: Ptolemy IV reigns
205-180: Ptolemy V reigns, inscribes Rosetta Stone
51-30: Cleopatra VII reigns as last of Ptolemaic dynasty
Roman Period begins with Cleopatra’s death & Octavian’s conquest of Egypt
EGYPTIAN TERMS
1. khemet: black land
2. akhet: first season (rain swells Nile and it floods, beginning in July)
3. peret: second season (first planting)
4. shemmu: third season (tending crops, lands dry out)
5. ma’at: sacred balance
6. nilometer: marks level reached by Nile flood
7. shaduf: water bucket
8. sesh: everyday writing
9. hieroglyphs: sacred writing
10. meret: peasants
11. medu neter: words of god
12. cataracts: major, rocky rapids along the Nile River
13. delta: marshy area where a river divides and flows into the sea
14. per-ao: great house (palace); ultimately came to mean pharaoh (ruler of the great house)
15. cartouche: oval enclosing hieroglyphs of personal names, usually the pharaoh’s name
16. ba: spirit of the personality
17. ka: spirit of the body
18. akh: spirit of immortality
19. natron: sacred salt used to preserve the body during mummification process
20. Pyramid Texts (Old Kingdom)/Coffin Texts (Middle Kingdom)/Book of the Dead (New Kingdom):
“cheat sheets” containing all spells and knowledge necessary for passage to the afterlife, buried with
the dead
21. Field of Reeds: Egyptian afterlife