5000 BC Egyptian culture already well
established in the Nile Valley, with
Neolithic farming villages. 3200 BC Menes
united Lower Egypt (the delta) with his own
kingdom of Upper Egypt. 2800 BC The architect
Imhotep built the step pyramid at Sakkara. c.
2600 BC Old Kingdom reached the height of its
power and the kings of the 4th dynasty built
the pyramids at Giza. c. 2200-1800 BC Middle
Kingdom, under which the unity lost towards
the end of the Old Kingdom was restored. 1730
BC Invading Asian Hyksos people established
their kingdom in the Nile Delta. c. 1580 BC
New Kingdom established by the 18th dynasty,
following the eviction of the Hyksos, with
its capital at Thebes. High point of ancient
Egyptian civilization under pharaohs
Thothmes, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep, Ikhnaton
(who moved the capital to Akhetaton), and
Tutankhamen. c. 1321 BC 19th dynasty: Ramses
I built a temple at Karnak, Ramses II the
temple at Abu Simbel. 1191 BC Ramses III
defeated the Indo-European Sea Peoples, but
after him there was decline, and power within
the country passed from the pharaohs to the
priests of Ammon. 1090-663 BC Late New
Kingdom Egypt was often divided between two
or more dynasties; the nobles became
virtually independent. 8th-7th centuries BC
Brief interlude of rule by kings from Nubia.
666 BC The Assyrians under Ashurbanipal
occupied Thebes. 663-609 BC Psammetichus I
restored Egypt's independence and unity. 525
BC Egypt was conquered by Cambyses and became
a Persian province. c. 405-340 BC A period of
independence. 332 BC Conquest by Alexander
the Great. On the division of his empire,
Egypt went to one of his generals, Ptolemy I,
and his descendants, the Macedonian dynasty.
30 BC Death of Cleopatra, last of the
Macedonians, and conquest by the Roman
emperor Augustus; Egypt became a province of
the Roman and Byzantine empires. AD 641 BC
Conquest by the Arabs; the Christianity of
later Roman rule was for the most part
replaced by Islam. For later history, see
Egypt.