The civilisation of Egypt stretches back into the dawn of history but around 3100BC the key event in the history of Egypt occured when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified by King Narmer into a single country. Lower Egypt is the Nile Delta including the modern cities of Cairo and Alexandria and was the most important territories in Upper Egypt. Upper Egypt is the thin strip of cultivated land along the Nile as far upstream as the rapids at Aswan.

The history of Ancient Egypt is then measured in Dynasties of the ruling royal family. The Egyptians themselves would not have recognised such periods, they are simply a convenience for historians in identifying shifts in the ruling elite.

Dynasties are then group into three main periods of stability and growth, known today as the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom, separated by periods of instability - the so called Intermediate Periods. A Third Intermediate Period marked the fall of the new Kingdom before Egypt moved into a Late Period and then Romanisation.

This hubs briefly outlines these periods. It is non-technical and is not intended as an academic resource but as a first read for somebody entirely new to the subject.

(All photos in this hub © Kate Phizackerley, all rights reserved, except for a public domain photos of King Tutankhamun and Queen Cleopatra,)

The Middle Kingdom is four dynasties (Eleventh Dynasty through the Fourteenth Dynasties) over four centuries at the start of the second millennium BC.  Egypt was again unified and ruled from a single capital, initially at Thebes.  The high point was the Twelth Dynasty and after that the Middle Kingdom gradually declined. Unlike the Great Pyramid of the Old Kingdom and Karnak Temple of the New Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom has not left a rich legacy of monuments.

The Old Kingdom is half a millennium from the early 3rd millennium BC through to about 2134BC. For other than academics and students of Egyptology it represents the first structured period in the history of Ancient Egypt, and the first period from significant monuments survive. There are four recognise Dynasties - Third through Sixth.

The Old Kingdom is the period of the pyramids and the Sphinx. Architecture is on a massive scale - or rather the monuments which have survived are of massive construction, perhaps because they are of massive construction.

Egypt's First Intermediate Period was as period of effete kings.  Egypt split again into Upper Egypt (based at Thebes - Luxor) and Lower Egypt (centred on Memphis), with separate lines of kings ruling each.  The architectural record is relatively sparse and the surving art and artfects lack both the solidity of the Old Kingdom and the grace and beauty of New Kingdom objects.

My personal favourite period of Ancient Egyptian history is a period of 500 years from the mid-16th century BC through to the mid-11th century BC. Because Egypt was well ordered and the era was - comparatively! - recent, we have good documentary evidence so that we can study the period and the main indviduals in some detail. Egypt's history comes alive in a very real sense.

We have some magnificent monuments such as Ramses II's famous temple at Abu Simbel, the massive temple at Karnak and of course the burial ground of the pharaohs at the Valley of the Kings which has yielded the magnificent's treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb (known as KV62). Not only was this tomb largely intact, but it dates to a period when the art of ancient Egypt was, i my opinion, close to it's zenith. Many of the objects from the tomb are of peerless beauty. It's why my Ancient Egypt blog concentrates on Upper Egypt (the Nile Valley around the modern cities of Luxor and Aswan) and the New Kingdom.

The Twentieth Dynasty Kings gradually lost their grip over the country and the New Kingdom is regarded as ending around 1070BC with the death of Pharaoh (King) Ramesses XI.  Egypt again split into two separate kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, both ruled by priest kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty.  Upper Egypt was ruled from Thebes and is a period I want to study in detail as soon as I have opportunity.

Egypt was re-united in the Twenty-second Dynasty but the Third Intermediate Period is complex and it's detailed history still a matter of considerable scholary debate.

This period is of little interest to me personally.  Egypt came under the sway of various foreign powers - Persia, the Greeks and finally the Romans.  Some of ancient history's best known individuals belong to this period, including Alexander the Great and Queen Cleopatra.

If you are interested in learning more and keeping up to date with the latest news from Egypt, please visit my lens describing some of the top Egyptology news sources.