Ancient Egypt Timeline

Situated near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and not far from the Red Sea, this land we all know of as Egypt has both fertile land and a lush history full of interesting people, fascinating stories, and amazing architecture. It is one of many ancient civilizations, but unlike most, the amount of things remaining from these ancient people are numerous and in a moderately good condition, considering that the civilization is over five thousand years old.

Related article: Egypt Under Roman Rule

Here follows a brief timeline of ancient Egypt:

Time	Period	Important Events
Pre-3100 BC	Predynastic Period	-Area around the Nile settled due to overgrazing and weather changes which led to the creation of the Sahara desert. -4000 BC: Use of tomb building and burial rituals started. -3500 BC: Hieroglyphic writing developed.
3200 - 3000 BC	Protodynastic Period	-Thinis, one of three states of Upper Egypt, takes over Naqada and Nekhen (other two of three states), as well as the whole of Lower Egypt. -Unified Egypt created.
2950 - 2575 BC	Early Dynastic Period (1st - 2nd dynasties)	-Capital of Egypt built in Memphis. -First king of unified Egypt believed to be Menes, Narmer, or Hor-aha.
2575 - 2150 BC	Old Kingdom (3rd - 6th dynasties)	-2600 BC: Pyramid of Djoser built, first known large-scale stone building. -Menkaure's Pyramid built, earliest use of carved granite. -Red Pyramid, first smooth-sided pyramid. -2580 BC: Great Pyramid of Giza built. Tallest structure until 1300 AD. -Art of embalming started.
2125 - 1975 BC	1st Intermediate Period (7th - 11th dynasties)	-Unification of Egypt fell apart. -Weather changes stopped the flooding of the Nile, caused many years of famine.
1975 - 1640 BC	Middle Kingdom (12th - 13th dynasties)	-2055 BC: Mentuhotep II reunited Egypt. -1878 BC: Senusret III attempts to extend Egypt, begins military campaigns to Nubia. Under Amenemhat III's 45 year reign, the Valley of the Kings was used.
1630 - 1520 BC	2nd Intermediate Period (14th - 17th dynasties)	-Egypt once again no longer unified at the start of the 14th Dynasty (Hyksos kings rule in the north). -17th Dynasty reunites Egypt and defeats the Hyksos from Western Asia.
1539 - 1075 BC	New Kingdom (18th -20th dynasties)	-Reign of Hatshepsut, first female pharoah. -Reign of Akhenaten. Built a new capital called Akhetaten. -Formed new monotheistic religion based around the sun disk, Aten. Banned worship of old gods. -Reign of Horemheb, focused on re-establishing the Egypt that existed before Akhenaten. -Valley of Queens made, though some wives were still buried with their husbands. -Reign of Ramesses II, ruled for 67 years and had numerous temples built, such as Abu Simbel. -1258 BC: World's earliest known peace treaty created.
1075 - 715 BC	3rd Intermediate Period (21st - 25th dynasties)	-Egypt once again split into two separate areas, Upper and Lower.
715 - 332 BC	Late Period (26th - 31st dynasties)	-525 BC: Egypt conquered by the Persians. -404 BC: Independent again.
332 BC - 395 AD	Greco - Roman Period	-Alexander the Great invades Egypt; is eventually declared Pharaoh. -Alexandria built. -304 BC - 30 BC: Descendants of Ptolemy I, Alexander's general, rule Egypt while maintaining Egyptian style of rule. -229 B: Library of Alexandria founded. -146 BC: Rosetta Stone cut. -30 BC: Roman conquest of Egypt, Egypt restored to its prior wealth and prestige as a trade center. -42 AD: library of Alexandria burns, loses 40,000 of its 70,000 books and manuscripts in the blaze. -212 AD: Egyptians given Roman Citizenship. -300 AD: Rise of Christianity in Egypt.
640 AD - present		-640 AD: Egypt conquered by Arab forces, becomes Islamic after 300 years of Christianity. -1799 AD: Rosetta Stone found by Napoleon's soldiers. -1822 AD: Rosetta Stone deciphered. -1870 AD: mummy caches found. -19th Century: Valley of the Kings found. -1922 AD: Tutankhamen's tomb found by Howard Carter.