The Dynasties of Ancient Egypt

Archaic Period

The Archaic Period of Ancient Egypt is generally considered to span from about 3100 BC to 2686 BC, amd saw the development and refinement of agriculture, metallurgy, and writing. The first hieroglyphs appeared during this time, and the first cities began to emerge in the Nile valley. Local rulers gradually consolidated power by building up their military, expanding their territory, ultimately creating a centralised state. The northern delta, or Lower Egypt, is flat, fertile and covered in black soil from the yearly inundations. The many waterways of the delta made it ideal for agriculture and trade, which helped to create a unified economy. Upper Egypt is more mountainous and much more arid than Lower Egypt. One of the most important developments was the unification of Egypt under a single ruler.

The unification of Egypt, which is traditionally dated to 3100 BCE, marked the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period and the start of the ancient Egyptian civilization. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom.

Early Dynastic Period

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom marks a shift from small and simple monuments, to monumental large-scale building projects, like the pyramids. The period is often referred to as the Age of the Pyramids, during which Egypt attained its first continuous period of internal security and prosperity.

Artists, architects and masons mastered techniques necessary to build monumental structures in stone, wood, and copper. They perfected the art of carving reliefs and painting the walls of temples and tombs.

First Intermediate Period

When Pepi II died, the centralised kingdom collapsed into what is called the First Intermediate Period. Pepi’s long reign had weakened the central authority and with his death, the kingdom began to to buckle.
As different factions fought for supremacy, from powerful noble families, to local nomarchs, the kingdom of the Two Lands collapsed, and was replaced by rulers that only controlled parts of the land. The temples were vandalized and pillaged as the political chaos grew.

Middle Kingdom

The Two Lands were once again united when Mentuhotep II defeated the tenth dynasty of Heracleopolis. The Middle Kingdom expanded trade outside the kingdom and consolidated pharaonic power by building defensive fortifications and kept a standing army ready for action.
The long reign of Amenemhat III most likely weakened pharaonic power once again, as local rulers became powerful. This led to a series of weak and ephemeral rulers that ended the golden age of the Middle Kingdom.

Second Intermediate Period

The Second Intermediate Period was a period of disarray. It is best known as when the Hyksos, whose reign comprised the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties, made their appearance in Egypt. Around the time Memphis fell to the Hyksos, the native Egyptian ruling house in Thebes declared its independence and set itself up as the Seventeenth Dynasty. This dynasty eventually drove the Hyksos back into Asia.

New Kingdom

Through military dominance abroad, The New Kingdom saw Egypt\'s greatest territorial extent. It expanded far into Nubia in the south, and held wide territories in the Near East. The Egyptians fought with Hittites. Two of the best known pharaohs of the New Kingdom are Akhenaten, whose exclusive worship of the Aten is often interpreted as the first instance of monotheism, and Ramesses II, who attempted to recover the territories that had been held in the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Third Intermediate Period

The Third Intermediate Period was marked by decline and political instability, dividing the state for much of the period. Most rulers were of Libyan descent.

Late Period

The Late Period refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers, into Persian conquests.

Hellenistic Period

The Hellenistic Period is often included in the Late Period, and were the last dynasties (despite the fact that they were conquering Macedonians,) that continued the rule of Egypt with a pharaoh on the throne.

Roman Province

Finally, Egypt was made a Roman province, effectively ending the rule of the pharaohs. The use of hieroglyphs for the emperor names continued sporadically, but finally stopped altogether.

Uncertain

Pharaohs whose existence is in doubt or whose evidence makes it difficult to assign them to a certain dynasty. They may not have ruled at all, or they may have merely had local authority in specific regions of the kingdom.

Unplaced kings