Egypt, ancient: history

Mummy mask of Prince Yuya from the New Kingdom 18th dynasty, 1403-1365 BC. Covered with gold and semi-precious stones, the mask was placed on the mummy to help the deceased's soul recognize it in the afterlife. (Cairo Museum, Egypt).

King Siptah, from a painted wall in his tomb, in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Siptah was the seventh king of the 19th Egyptian dynasty, and the successor of Seti II. He ruled for over six years, from around 1199 to 1192 BC. The tomb was discovered in 1905.

Ancient Egyptian history is divided into 31 royal dynasties, usually grouped in eight periods. The kings of ancient Egypt were known as pharaohs. For other aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture, see Egypt, ancient.

Prehistory Prior to the dynastic era, Egypt had a long prehistory. Stone implements dating from the Palaeolithic have been found in gravel, some 30 m/100 ft above the present Nile. Important Mesolithic sites have been explored at Helwan, Kom Ombo and Kharga, while Neolithic sites have been studied at el-Omari, Merimda, and in the oasis of Fayum. There, barley and wheat similar to that grown today were cultivated, and flax was woven into linen cloth. Domestic animals included cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Pottery was mostly plain burnished, and stone implements used included partly polished axes and adzes (gouges), and winged arrowheads. The Fayum Neolithic dates from the 5th millennium BC.

The Badarian, the earliest prehistoric culture of Upper Egypt (the Nile delta), probably dates from the late 5th millennium BC. The Badarians made fine rippled pottery and had stone axes and arrowheads similar to the Fayum examples. They also had green beads of soft soapstone glaze (the earliest known glazing), which copied beads of hard green amazon stone known from the Fayum, and also copper beads, the earliest known metal objects in Egypt.

The Predynastic Period The Badarian culture was followed by the Predynastic Period (4th millennium BC), which is divided into two stages, the Amratian (Nagada I) and the Gerzean (Nagada II). During the Predynastic Period the beginnings of Egyptian civilization began to develop, influenced by contacts with Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), where urban cultures were already established. Itinerant traders were responsible for most contacts, but latterly small bodies of Near Eastern peoples established themselves by force, as is seen from the Jebel el-Arak knife handle. The carving in relief on such handles, and on some large ceremonial palettes and mace heads, was a Near Eastern technique and many of the motifs employed are Near Eastern, though the scenes are Egyptian.

From Badarian times the dead were buried in cemeteries, with pots and sometimes implements. In the earlier part of the period large flint knives reached the peak of their development. At the same time skill was shown in selecting and working various stones into small vases. Slate palettes, on which malachite was ground to make a green eye paint, were often shaped to represent animals or fish.

Not only turquoise from Sinai but lapis lazuli from Afghanistan reached Egypt, and cheaper imitations of these materials were made used crushed-quartz glazes (faience). The use of copper (possibly mined in Sinai) began during the period, and serviceable copper axe and adze heads were in use. Beads of gold and of meteoric iron are also found. (Iron did not come into general use in Egypt for more than 2500 years; and bronze made from copper with a little tin was not in general use until the New Kingdom.)

Towards the end of the period, the Egyptians began to copy cylinder seals of the type found in graves at Jemdet Nasr in Iraq, and on these copies the Egyptians evolved their own pictorial script. The foundations of Egyptian religion were also laid down, and amulets became more general. The distinctive pottery of this period had designs painted on it, at first in white on a dark red ground, and later in red on a light ground. Many pots of the later style found in graves show a boat with a palm branch at the bow and two cabins, over one or both of which is the emblem of a divinity.

The Early Dynastic or Archaic Period (1st-2nd dynasties) There were kingdoms of Upper Egypt (the Nile delta) and Lower Egypt (the Nile valley further south) in prehistoric times. Recorded history begins with the union of the two regions, which probably took place around 3100 BC, although it may have been a gradual process. An ancient slate palette (now in Cairo) gives a pictorial account of the conquest of the delta by the ‘followers of Horus’ (the falcon sky god) led by a king of Upper Egypt called Narmer. Narmer has been identified with Menes, traditionally the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt, becoming the first pharaoh and founder of the 1st dynasty.

The slate gives us further information about Upper Egypt: its capital was Nekhen (Hierakonpolis), and its religious centre was at Abydos. The rulers of the delta prior to the conquest are represented as foreigners, and may have come from Palestine. Some suggest that the aristocracy who formed the 1st dynasty may have come from Iraq, where boats with vertical prows are also found, and where, in the marshes, imposing buildings are still made on a framework of bundles of reeds, which resemble closely the representations of the 1st-dynasty shrines. If so, they no doubt reached the Nile by the Wadi Hammamat.

A new capital of the united country was constructed between the two kingdoms around 3050 BC at Memphis near Cairo. Fragments of shattered objects left by grave robbers show that craftsmen in the Archaic period reached a high standard in making stone bowls, furniture, objects of ivory, jewellery, and copper tools. The beginnings of stone masonry also date from this period. An early form of hieroglyphics was used in court circles for labels and tablets, which may record events, but though they developed into the classical script of Egypt, not enough have been found to render deciphering certain.

The administration of the kingdom was organized under officials, some of whose names are known, and religion was beginning to assume its later form. In addition to the gods Horus and Hathor, who specially protected the king, representations of shrines of the deities Neith, Thoth and Anubis have been found dating from this period. King Zer left an inscription near the second cataract of the Nile indicating that he had extended his domain that far.

Under the 2nd dynasty (28th-27th centuries BC) there may have been a rising of an indigenous people who worshipped the god Set, who was afterwards execrated as the enemy of Horus. But though little is known of the disturbed beginning of the dynasty, the last king, Khasekhem, reconciled both parties and changed his name to the plural form Khasekhemwy. Above representations of this name were displayed the animal of Set as well as the hawk of Horus. Two of his statuettes were found at Hierakonpolis.

Burials in the Archaic Period A cemetery of large tombs with mud-brick mastaba superstructures painted white with patterns representing coloured mats has been excavated at Sakkara, near Memphis. They date from the early Archaic to the end of the 1st dynasty. Some of them were possibly royal, but it is impossible to say for certain as they have been extensively damaged by robbers. Each actual burial was in a subterranean wood-lined chamber, with, at either end, one or two chambers in which were buried the deceased's intimate possessions. In the superstructure, which was 4-5 m/12-15 ft high, and had a panelled facade in imitation of the palace of timber and matting, were up to 45 rooms containing many wine jars and various pots, vessels of alabaster and other stones, copper vessels and tools (knives, saws, adzes, and chisels.), furniture, games, and everything necessary for the king's enjoyment of the next world.

At Abydos near This, the traditional home of the 1st dynasty (sometimes called Thinite) there is another cemetery containing graves attributed to all the kings of the dynasty, including those of Narmer and probably some of his predecessors,. This cemetery has suffered, like the Sakkara one, from plundering and time, although some large stone stelae (inscribed slabs) with the names of the kings on them survived, while none survived at Sakkara.

From the reign of Zer, the third king, to the end of the 1st dynasty, the chief graves (particularly at Abydos) were surrounded by orderly rows of the graves of servants, craftsmen and concubines, buried with their royal master. These subsidiary graves are found in ever decreasing numbers (318 to 26) towards the end of the dynasty. Large slabs of stone were increasingly used to block the way to the burial chamber, which by the reign of Udimu was paved with granite. Large slabs of limestone were also increasingly used to line large private graves at Helwan, where there is the beginning of stone masonry, one row of blocks being placed on another.

The Old Kingdom (3rd-6th dynasties) The architect Imhotep built the step pyramid at Sakkara in around 2630 BC for Zoser, second king of the 3rd dynasty (27th-26th centuries BC), and son of Khasekhemwy (the last king of the Early Dynastic Period). Zoser's life-size statue, from this pyramid, is in Cairo. Sekhemkhet, builder of the unfinished step pyramid at Sakkara, left an inscription indicating Egyptian control over Sinai, important for its copper and turquoise mines.

The great pyramid builders of the 4th dynasty The pharaohs of the 4th dynasty (26th-25th centuries BC) constructed the pyramids of El Gîza. They developed the true pyramid form, culminating in around 2550 BC with the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) - the largest Egyptian pyramid of all. The shape was probably connected with the belief that the dead king ascended to the sky for assimilation with the sun god Ra, whose worship now received state recognition. Khufu's successor, Dedef-Ra, was the first king of the dynasty whose name is a compound of Ra.

The 5th dynasty The 5th dynasty (25th-24th centuries BC), according to legend, was founded by priests of Ra, but was related to the preceding dynasty. In the vicinity of Abu Sir, near their pyramids, they built unique sun temples in which the central cult object was the solar symbol, a short obelisk (benben), in a court open to the sun and situated on a terrace formed like a truncated pyramid. In the best preserved sun temple was found a brick boat, intended for the night journey of the sun.

The most important historical relic of this dynasty is the Palermo Stone (so called because the largest fragment is in Palermo, Sicily). This is a black stone slab on which were recorded briefly the annals of the reigns of all the kings from the 1st dynasty, and the names also of some Predynastic kings of both Upper and Lower Egypt.

During the 5th dynasty the art of representing scenes in bas-relief reached perfection. Earthly scenes of banquets, hunting, fishing, farming, and so on - which the nobles hoped to enjoy after death - were reproduced with picturesque details and humorous comments, as in the tomb of Ti at Sakkara. At the end of the 5th dynasty magic spells, some of prehistoric origin, are found in the royal pyramids. The purpose of these Pyramid Texts was to ensure for the king a place among the gods, who were not expected to welcome newcomers.

The 6th dynasty One of the wonders of the 6th dynasty (24th-22nd centuries BC)is the statue of Pepi I, found at Hierakonpolis. It was over life-size and made of copper plates nailed on a wooden core. At Aswan are the tombs of local princes, who were also merchant adventurers and made long journeys overland with donkey trains to central Africa. The greatest of them was Herkhuf, who on his last journey brought back a dancing dwarf, to the delight of the young king, Pepi II, who reputedly reigned for nearly a century. In old age Pepi II gradually lost control of the kingdom as new ideas that had been coming in since the 5th dynasty gained acceptance. Pepi I had married two commoners, and although still ‘the good god’, the king was no longer thought to be really semidivine. Under these conditions the nomarchs (officials in charge of districts) tended to become hereditary rulers increasingly independent of Memphis.

The First Intermediate Period (7th-10th dynasties) Soon after the death of Pepi II (c. 2150 BC) began what is called the First Intermediate Period, a century or so of civil war and foreign infiltration. In Upper Egypt the nomarchs were busy organizing their little kingdoms. In Lower Egypt the situation is obscure, but everywhere a social revolution was underway, the aristocracy was dispossessed, cultivation ceased, and famine was widespread. The kingdom was not united again until the 11th dynasty.

Scarcely anything is known of the 7th dynasty, and little of the 8th (Memphite) dynasty. The delta was overrun by Semites from the northeast. About 2130 BC the chief of Herakleopolis set up an independent kingdom in middle Egypt, thus founding the 9th dynasty. The 10th dynasty was also Herakleopolitan and recovered control of the delta, but when it advanced south towards the rival 11th dynasty, based in Thebes, the latter took the initiative, and about 2080 BC struggles began that culminated in around 2000 BC with Egypt united again under the Thebans.

Cultural developments in the First Intermediate Period Various innovations during this unsettled period make up for lack of documentary evidence about the life of the times. The pictures of scenes that the dead person hoped to enjoy in the afterlife were replaced in the tomb by models that copy the houses and farms of the period, together with bakeries, slaughterhouses, breweries, boats, and even units of Nubian troops. At Rifa and elsewhere, model pottery houses, for the use of the soul while enjoying offerings brought to the tomb, provide information about middle-class houses.

The lack of strong government led to an increase in tomb robbery, with mummies being frequently destroyed. The mummy was considered essential for survival after death, and so a custom arose of burying small mummified figures with the corpse to replace the mummy if destroyed. These figures developed into the shabti figures of the Middle and New Kingdoms.

A button-shaped stamp seal of a type found from north of the Aegean to India came into use during this period, probably introduced when Semites overran the delta. There was also a vogue for little amuletic figures in the round, among which were carvings of the scarab beetle. These amulets often had their base made into a seal, and thus combined their original function with that of the button seal. Eventually the scarab, a symbol of resurrection, replaced all other figures, and maintained its popularity until the last dynasty.

The Middle Kingdom (11th-12th dynasties) The reunion of Egypt under the Thebans was completed by Mentuhotep II (ruled 2008-1957 BC) of the 11th dynasty, and the hereditary nomarchs were largely suppressed. Control was established over Wawat (near the second cataract), and under Mentuhotep III (ruled 1945-1938) an expedition was sent down the Red Sea to Punt, thought to be somewhere in the region of present-day Somalia or Eritrea. The arts revived, and a funerary temple consisting of two colonnaded terraces, possibly surrounding a pyramid, was built by Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri, opposite Luxor. Five hundred years later Queen Hatshepsut had a copy of this temple built alongside it.

The 12th dynasty The founder of the great 12th dynasty (1938-c. 1756 BC) was Amenemhat, vizier of Mentuhotep IV. His name shows that the cult of Amun of Thebes was gaining ground. The capital, however, was moved north to between the oasis of Fayum and Memphis, where the kings resided and built pyramids. They regulated the irrigation of the Fayum, increasing its fertility and turning it into the ‘Garden of Egypt’. Amenemhat III (ruled 1818-1770 BC) built a palace there containing 3,000 rooms on two floors. It was still in existence in the days of the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC), and was known as the Labyrinth.

During the 12th dynasty Palestine may have been invaded, while relations with Byblos and Syria were cordial. Trade was carried on with Crete, and in Sinai new mines were opened. Expeditions were made to Punt. In the south the frontier was advanced to Semna, beyond the second cataract, and defended by impregnable forts. Beyond this frontier a trading post was maintained in Kush, near the third cataract.

Culture in the Middle Kingdom Little has survived of the architecture of the 12th dynasty - its material was mostly reused in the New Kingdom - but at Karnak a small shrine has been reconstructed from pieces found in a pylon (temple gateway). Its reliefs and hieroglyphs are strikingly graceful. The royal pyramids were small and built of brick. The jeweller's art reached a peak, as witnessed by the treasure found in princesses' graves at Lahun and Dahshur. Royal statues too, attained a high standard; particularly those of the Theban school, in which the features are accentuated and the portraits vigorous. Those of the Memphite school, while polished, lack the individuality of the masterpieces of the Old Kingdom, whose tradition they follow.

The literature of the period consists of instructions, prophecies, and tales. An example of the former was the advice of the aged Amenemhat I to his son, remarkable for its expressions of bitterness at the ingratitude of his subjects. The prophecies often announce as forthcoming an event that has already taken place, for example, the prophecy of Neferti announcing the coming of a saviour in the shape of Amenemhat I. The best-known tales are ‘The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor’ and the tales of ‘Sinuhe’, and ‘The Eloquent Peasant’. There is also a dialogue between a man tired of life and his soul.

The Second Intermediate Period (13th-17th dynasties) The era between the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom, which began with the 18th dynasty, was another dark age, and is called the Second Intermediate Period. It lasted less than two centuries, although the later Egyptian historian Manetho claimed it lasted for 1,500 years.

The early kings of the 13th dynasty (18th-17th centuries BC) ruled all Egypt, but after Neferhotep I the delta was lost in around 1750 BC to nomadic, probably Semitic, invaders from the Near East, the Hyksos or Hekakhasut. By 1730 BC the Hyksos had built their capital at Avaris, establishing themselves first as rulers in the delta, and then extending their control without difficulty over most of an anarchic and disunited Egypt. The Hyksos brought with them bronze metallurgy and the horse-drawn chariot.

About 1630 BC the 17th dynasty arose at Thebes. Its later princes gradually confined the Hyksos to north Egypt and south Palestine. In around 1545 BC King Seqenenre apparently fell in battle against the Hyksos, judging by the gash in the skull of his mummy. The war was carried on by his son Kamose, who defeated the Hyksos north of Hermopolis.

The New Kingdom (18th-20th dynasties) Kamose's brother and successor, Ahmose (ruled c. 1539-1514 BC), then stormed Avaris, drove the Hyksos out of Egypt, and pursued them into Palestine. There he besieged them in Sharuhen, taking it after a siege. He thus became the founder of the 18th dynasty, with its capital at Thebes. He also reoccupied Nubia, at least as far as the second cataract.

Ahmose's successor Amenhotep I (ruled c. 1514-1493) also invaded Nubia and probably extended the conquest of Syria. Certainly at the beginning of the next reign, his successor Thutmose (or Thothmes) I (ruled c. 1493-c. 1482 BC) claimed that his empire reached the River Euphrates. Thutmose I, who came to the throne through his wife, conquered Nubia as far as the fourth cataract, advancing later to Kurgus near the fifth cataract by the second year of his reign. He then penetrated beyond the Euphrates to suppress a revolt in Naharein.

Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III The son of Thutmose I by a minor wife, Thutmose II only ruled for a short time (c. 1482-1479 BC), being succeeded by his widow and half-sister, Hatshepsut. She had been the effective ruler during the reign of her husband, and continued as such as regent for two years for her young stepson, Thutmose III (1479-c. 1426 BC), son of Thutmose II by a minor wife. She ruled as a man, and is portrayed dressed as a pharaoh with a beard. Until she died, or was forced to abdicate, in around 1458 BC Thutmose III had no power. She abandoned military undertakings for peaceful projects such as an expedition to Punt, and the construction of temples such as her funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri, in which she was helped by her architect-minister, Senmut. Her monuments were defaced by Thutmose III when he came to power.

On assuming power Thutmose III was faced with a serious situation in the Near East, where he was opposed by a coalition under the king of Kadesh. His annals at Karnak describe his defeat of the king of Kadesh at Megiddo (in northern Israel) and subsequent campaigns in Syria and Naharein. After the capture of Kadesh Egypt was supreme in the Near East, and there was regular friendly contact with the Minoan civilization on Crete. Towards the end of his reign Thutmose III went to Nubia and carved an inscription beside that of Tuthmosis I at Kurgus, as he had done on the Euphrates.

Egyptian civilization reaches its zenith Thutmose III's son Amenhotep II (ruled c. 1425-1400) was energetic, suppressing a revolt in Syria early in his prosperous reign. His son Thutmose IV (1400-c. 1391 BC) made an alliance with the Mitanni of Syria, who needed support against the Hittites, and married a Mitanni princess, who became mother of his successor Amenhotep III.

By nature an indolent despot, Amenhotep III (1391-1353 BC) avoided war and neglected his empire. Early in his reign he took part in many lion hunts and issued large scarabs commemorating the killing of over a hundred lions. Egypt had reached its apogee. From the Sudan to the Euphrates it was supreme, and sumptuous temples throughout the Nile valley, as far as Sulb in Nubia, where temples were erected for the worship of the divine king and his wife Tiy. The colossi of Memnon opposite Luxor are all that is left of his funerary temple. He also married many foreign princesses. The cuneiform Amarna tablets contain the correspondence of Amenhotep III and his successor with the kings of Babylon, Assyria, the Mitanni, the Hittites, and the princes of the Aegean Isles and governors of Egyptian provinces in the Near East, throwing much light on foreign affairs in the 14th century BC.

Akhenaton The Hittites were expanding, and when they won over some Asiatic princes, Amenhotep III's son Amenhotep IV (ruled 1353-1335) failed to support those who remained loyal, and soon Egyptian influence, even in Palestine and Syria, was virtually extinct.

Amenhotep IV, who was still influenced by his remarkable mother, Queen Tiy, when he came to the throne, was an example of genius akin to insanity. Possibly to counter the influence of the powerful priests of Ammon (or Amen), his parents had adopted the doctrine of the Aton, (which had originated in Heliopolis). In the sixth year of his reign Amenhotep IV proclaimed that the pantheon of Egypt, including Ammon-Ra, king of the gods, was a fiction, and that only one deity existed, an invisible heavenly force that manifested itself through the Aton, the visible disc of the Sun. He changed his name to Akhenaton, ‘pleasing to the Sun disc’, and he had the Aton depicted with rays, each with a hand holding the sign of life. This was a declaration of war upon Ammon and his priests in their own city.

So Akhenaton founded a new capital in the desert, calling it Akhetaton (the modern Tell el Amarna). The whole machinery of the state was in the king's hands and for the moment resistance was impossible. The property of Ammon was transferred to Aton, and the name of Ammon obliterated everywhere. In all this he was supported by his beautiful queen, Nefertiti. The naturalism and fidelity to truth that had begun to appear in the previous reign are characteristic of the art of this time, while the king was often represented with almost a caricature of his facial and bodily peculiarities. Living his own life with his court and family in the city he had created, he left control of the kingdom and preservation of the shrinking empire to others.

Tutankhamen and his successors After Akhenaton's death Akhetaton was abandoned and the old religion restored by the priests of Ammon. Leaving only daughters, Akhenaton was succeeded by his young son-in-law and co-regent Smenkh-ka-ra, who died shortly after Akhenaton. Little is known of the short reign of Akhenaton's second son-in-law, Tutankhamen (reigned c. 1333-1323 BC), whose chief claim to fame is that his relatively insignificant tomb at Thebes escaped serious robbery, and its vast store of treasures (now in the Cairo Museum) is one of the wonders of the world. In his reign the Aton heresy was blotted out and Thebes became again the capital, the young king attempting to complete the colonnade of Amenhotep III in the temple of Luxor.

When Tutankhamen died a priestly official, Ai, reigned for four years, and was succeeded by the orthodox soldier, Horemheb, who had administered Lower Egypt during the reign of Akhenaton and married a sister of Nefertiti. Horemheb had maintained Palestine for Tutankhamen, and then acted as regent for him. His reign was occupied with the reorganization of the kingdom; he died an old man in around 1292 BC.

The beginning of the 19th dynasty The 19th dynasty was founded by another soldier, Ramses I (ruled 1292-90 BC), who had been honoured by Horemheb and came from the aristocracy of Tanis, the ancient capital of the Hyksos. The worship of Set had been maintained there since the expulsion of the Hyksos, although shunned elsewhere in Egypt. Ramses, already old, reigned two years and was succeeded by his son Seti I (Seti means ‘man of Set’).

Seti I Seti I (ruled 1290-1279 BC) and his successors were warriors preoccupied with foreign affairs. They were also great builders. Seti defeated the Hittites in Syria and reconquered part of it. He then began constructing an original funerary temple at Abydos, where the earliest kings of Egypt had been buried. There he represented himself offering to the royal ancestors back to Menes, a list of great historical value. Seti was mainly responsible for the majestic but heavy Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, which was begun by Ramses I, and was completed by Seti's son Ramses II. Seti was buried in a large tomb at Thebes, and Seti's alabaster sarcophagus is in the Soane Museum in London.

Ramses II Ramses II ‘the Great’ (reigned 1279-1213 BC) was the Osymandyas of the Greek historian Diodorus. Like his father, he was a great builder, and during his long reign he had his name placed in most temples. His more important buildings were the Ramesseum (his funerary temple, with clumsy Osiride pillars and red granite colossi) and the rock-cut temple of Abu Simbel. In both are depicted in vast reliefs the heroic events of the Hittite war in Syria.

This war, which lasted some 16 years and left both sides terribly weakened, was deliberately provoked by Ramses in an attempt to recover the empire of Thutmose III. Eventually the combatants not only made peace, but an alliance, in the face of the rising power of Assyria. This peace was kept for the remaining years of Ramses's long reign. But the struggle was a turning point in ancient Egyptian history - henceforth a story of decline.

Merneptah Ramses was succeeded by his 13th son, the elderly Merneptah (1213-1204 BC), who is possibly the pharaoh featured in Exodus in the Bible. Merneptah had to suppress a revolt in Palestine (the first mention of Israel in Egyptian records), and to meet an invasion of the western delta by Libyans and the Indo-European Sea Peoples. Then followed 30 confused years, when several kings reigned, most with doubtful claims to the throne.

Ramses III and the 20th dynasty Setnakht was the founder of the 20th dynasty. He restored order in a short reign (1190-87 BC), and was succeeded by his son Ramses III (1187-1156 BC), the last great king of the New Kingdom. He reorganized the administration and the army. Tribute was again collected from Asia and Nubia. Quarries were reopened and the funerary temple of Medinet Habu built, the walls recording the campaigns of the reign. His greatest victory was over the Sea Peoples, who, after sweeping over Hittite territory, Cilicia (in southern Turkey) and Cyprus, had reached Amorite country and were again threatening Egypt. Advancing by land and sea along the coast of Palestine, Ramses III annihilated them (c. 1180 BC). He also repulsed two Libyan attacks on the delta. The last 20 years of his reign were peaceful, except for a conspiracy in the harem.

There followed several unimportant kings, all named Ramses, most of whom were overshadowed by the high priests of Ammon. In the reign of Ramses IX (ruled 1126-1108 BC) a number of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings were robbed. Under Ramses XI (ruled 1104 - c. 1075 BC) there was civil war, in which Libyans took part. It was suppressed with the help of Nubian troops under the viceroy Pa-nehesi who was himself expelled by one Heri-hor, an army officer and high priest of Ammon. Shortly afterwards he became viceroy and vizier, but his rule was local and he died before Ramses XI.

The Third Intermediate Period (21st-23rd dynasties) The 21st dynasty was founded in the north in around 1075 BC by Smendes, governor of Tanis, who had the best claim to be pharaoh by reason of his marriage to a Theban princess. However, a rival pharoah was established in Thebes: Heri-hor's son Piankhi had succeeded his father only as chief priest, but Piankhi's son, Pinudjem I, claimed kingship and was widely recognized. In spite of rival claims, Pinudjem I's successors at Thebes and the Tanite rulers lived fairly amicably, united by marriage ties, until the last high priest reunited Egypt as King Psusennes II. With his death (c. 950 BC) came the end of the rule of Thebes.

The 22nd dynasty A powerful family of Libyans had become established at Herakleopolis. They were immigrants who had come to Africa with the Sea Peoples in the 20th dynasty, and who, as mercenaries, now formed a large part of the army. They had been rewarded with land for their services, and had become Egyptianized.

One of this family now seized the throne as Sheshonq I (ruled c. 950-929 BC), founding the 22nd dynasty and marrying his son, Osorkon II (ruled c. 929-c. 914 BC), to a daughter of Psusennes II, the last Tanite king of the previous dynasty. Sheshonq asserted his authority in Upper Egypt, and it was probably then that some priests of Ammon left Thebes for Napata, from where the 25th dynasty was to emerge. Sheshonq (the Shishak of the Bible) attacked Palestine after the death of Solomon and sacked Jerusalem, refilling his treasury and temporarily increasing the prestige of Egypt. Then followed 150 years of increasing anarchy, in which rival Libyan chieftains and the priests of Ammon at Thebes were the chief participants.

The Late Period (24th-31st dynasties) Eventually, around 730 BC, there were two movements to put an end to this anarchy, one led by Tefnakht of Sais (24th dynasty) and the other by Piye of Napata (25th dynasty), and the history of Egypt for the next century and a half is marked by the rivalry between Sais and Napata, with the recently arisen power of Assyria intervening. From this point on in Egypt's history various foreign empires sought possession of the fertile Nile delta, known as ‘the breadbasket of the Mediterranean’, and the distinctive Egyptian civilization began to be overlaid by foreign cultures.

The beginnings of the Sais-Napata conflict Undoubtedly inspired by the priest of Ammon at Napata to restore the ancient glories of Egypt, it is uncertain whether the 25th dynasty were Egyptian descendants of Heri-hor, Libyans, or Nubian descendants of the kings of Kush (Dongola), in whose territory Napata lay. If the latter, they were fully Egyptianized. Piye's father Kashta (died c. 750 BC) had extended his authority as far as Upper Egypt, and Piye himself (ruled c. 750-c. 719 BC) entered Thebes and forced the Libyan ‘wife of Ammon’ to adopt his sister, Amenirdis.

Meanwhile, Tefnakht of Sais had united the delta, occupied Memphis and then moved on Middle Egypt, where he clashed with Piye on his way down the Nile. Piye continued his advance and captured Memphis in about 730 BC. Many dynasts (minor rulers) in the delta submitted, but Tefnakht hid in the marshes. Leaving the dynasts to pay tribute, Piye returned to Napata to celebrate his victory, and Tefnakht came out of hiding. Piye's successor Shabaka (ruled c. 719-703 BC) then established Kushite rule firmly over Egypt, and transferred the capital from Napata to Thebes. The historian Manetho stated that Shabaka burned Tefnakht's son Bekenrenef (Bocchoris) alive.

The impact of Assyria In the reign of Shabaka's son Shebitku (703-690 BC) the army of Sennacherib the Assyrian invaded Judah, but was forced by plague to retire. In 671 Sennacherib's successor, Esarhaddon, advanced against Egypt, defeated Shebitku's brother Taharqa (ruled 690-664) on the frontier, and took Memphis. Taharqa retook it in 669, but lost it again to Ashurbanipal, who then occupied Thebes (666 BC).

The Assyrians - who introduced iron weapons into Egypt for the first time - reinstated various Egyptian princes as vassals, among them Psamtik I (ruled 664-610), the founder of the 26th (Saite) dynasty. Tanwetamani, Taharqa's successor, made a last attempt to recover Egypt, but was driven out by Assyria. Thebes was sacked (663 BC), and Tanwetamani had lost control of Egypt by 656 BC. Psamtik I eventually freed Egypt from Assyria with the help of Greek mercenaries (Greek merchants had formed a depot near Sais that was to develop into Naucratis).

Saite victory over the Kushites The descendants of the defeated Tanwetamani ruled Nubia for another 1,000 years, with their capital first at Napata and then at Meroë. For some time they claimed the throne of Egypt, but the Saite ruler, Psamtik II (reigned 595-589 BC) sent a force including Greek mercenaries to Napata, where they defeated the Kushites, and freed the Saites from fear of their rivals.

Saite propaganda against the Kushites has caused it to be forgotten that it was they, not the Saites, who had started the archaizing tendency in Egyptian religion and art. The 25th dynasty were buried under pyramids at Napata, and copied the temples and statuary of the Old Kingdom pyramid builders. Taharqa in particular added to temples in Egypt and Kush, building fine copies of 5th-dynasty temples at Kawa and Sanam.

Developments in the 6th century BC Necho II (ruled 610-595 BC) destroyed Josiah of Judah and his army seized Syria, but in 605 BC his army was defeated at Carchemish by the Babylonians, who drove him back to Egypt. Wah-ib-ra (ruled 589-70 BC) - the Hophra of the Bible and Apries of the Greeks - occupied Phoenicia and encouraged Judah to revolt against Babylon, but failed to give adequate support. Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar II, and many inhabitants were carried into captivity, a remnant, including Jeremiah, fleeing into Egypt. Towards the end of his reign a revolt, inspired by anti-Greek nationalism and supported by the displaced Libyan military class, led to the replacement of Wah-ib-ra by the Egyptian general Amasis (ruled 570-526 BC), who, in view of the prevailing xenophobia, concentrated the Greek merchants at Naucratis and Greek troops at Memphis. By the end of his reign Persia, supreme in Asia, was about to attack.

Egypt under the Persians In the first year of the reign of Wah-ib-ra's son, Psamtik III (525 BC), Cambyses II of Persia invaded Egypt and took Memphis. Egypt now became a Persian province, and the pharaohs of the 27th dynasty ruled only in name. Herodotus, the Greek historian, naturally gives an unfavourable account of the Persians, but there is evidence that they respected Egyptian beliefs, and under Darius tried to codify Egyptian laws. Darius built a temple at Kharga and exploited the trade of Egypt, reopening the canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, first opened by Necho.

After the Persian defeat by the Greeks at Marathon (490 BC) the Egyptians revolted, but were easily crushed. After further Persian defeats by the Greeks, in the reign of Artaxerxes I another revolt was led by Inaros the Libyan and Amyrtaeus of Sais, who were supported by an Athenian fleet of 300 triremes. The fleet reached Memphis and enabled the rebels to defeat the Persians at Papremis. The Persians took refuge in Memphis, where they were besieged for 18 months before finally defeating the rebels.

A grandson of Amyrtaeus, bearing the same name, succeeded after six years in freeing Egypt from the Persians (404 BC), This Amyrtaeus became the sole king of the 28th dynasty, 404-399 BC. The 29th dynasty (from Mendes) carried on the struggle against the Persians with the help sometimes of Sparta and sometimes of Athens.

The last of the native pharaohs The 29th dynasty was replaced by Nectanebo I of Sebennytos (ruled 380-363 BC), founder of the 30th dynasty. Nectanebo achieved this with the support of the priests of Sais, whom he rewarded at the expense of the Greeks of Naucratis. His strained relations with the Greeks encouraged Artaxerxes II of Persia to attempt to reconquer Egypt. The first Persian invasion was repulsed, and Nectanebo made additions to several temples.

Nectanebo's successor Teos tried to make friends with the Greeks, introducing taxes so he could mint drachmae to pay Greek troops. He was thus enabled to set out for the Near East at the head of a mixed force of Greeks and Egyptians. But, owing to the treachery of his brother whom he had left as regent, his nephew, Nectanebo II (ruled 360-343 BC), won over half his forces and so secured the throne. He suppressed a revolt at Mendes and then built a number of monuments, the last Egyptian works of art. Artaxerxes III Ochos of Persia then decided to reconquer Egypt, and after a long campaign succeeded in doing so in 343 BC.

The establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty A decade later Darius III of Persia was defeated by Alexander the Great of Macedonia at Issus (333 BC). In the following year, encouraged by an Egyptian who had helped him at Issus, Alexander entered Egypt. The Egyptians welcomed their new master, who tactfully recognized the gods of Egypt and made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Ammon at the Siwah Oasis. In 331 BC he founded a new capital at Alexandria, to take the place of Naucratis.

In the division of his conquests after his death (323 BC) Egypt was allocated to one of his generals, Ptolemy, son of Lagos. Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 BC, and assumed to title of king in 305 BC as Ptolemy I, so founding the dynasty that was to rule Egypt until 30 BC. He became known as Ptolemy Soter (saviour) after he assisted the Rhodians when they were besieged by Demetrius (304).Under the Ptolemies Egypt, particularly Alexandria, was to became the centre of Hellenistic learning and culture. Ptolemy introduced the worship of Serapis, and commenced the great library and museum at Alexandria, where, under his patronage, Euclid taught mathematics.

Ptolemy II Ptolemy's successor, Ptolemy II (posthumously called Philadelphus), who ruled 285-246 BC, was chiefly famous for his splendid court and general delight in luxury, and his encouragement of commerce. His first wife was Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus. After repudiating her he married his sister, the beautiful Arsinoe II, the widow of Lysimachus, and deified her at her death. Ptolemy built the great lighthouse at Alexandria known as the Pharos. He delighted in the library and encouraged all intellectual pursuits. Manetho, the priest historian, flourished during his reign.

Ptolemy III and IV Ptolemy III (Euergetes I), son of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe I, reigned 246-221 BC. He married Berenice, the daughter of Magas. He invaded the Seleucid kingdom (founded by another of Alexander's generals) as far as Babylonia, while his fleet was triumphant as far as Thrace. He left many monuments in Egypt, among them the unfinished temple of Edfu. His son Ptolemy IV (Philopator) (ruled 221-203 BC), married his sister, Arsinoe III. His debauched reign marks the beginning of the gradual decline of his kingdom.

Ptolemy V to VIII Ptolemy V (Epiphanes) (ruled 203-181 BC) was only five years old when he came to the throne. His reign was chiefly remarkable for the cruelty displayed in the suppression of rebellions. The Rosetta Stone dates from his reign. He married Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus of Syria. Their sons, Ptolemy VI (Philometor) (180-145 BC) and Ptolemy VIII (Euergetes II), later nicknamed Physkon the Puffer from his bloated appearance (d. 116 BC), ruled for a time jointly and quarrelled continuously. Rome intervened in their quarrels and Ptolemy VI's war with the Seleucids. Ptolemy VIII eventually retired to Cyrene until Ptolemy VI's death. He then returned to Egypt, murdered Ptolemy VI's son, Ptolemy VII (Neos Philopator), and married the mother (his sister Cleopatra II) and her daughter, also called Cleopatra.

Cleopatra III to Ptolemy XII Ptolemy VIII left Cyrenaica to an illegitimate son, and Egypt and Cyprus to Cleopatra III and his two sons by her, Ptolemy IX (Soter II, nicknamed Lathyros or Chickpea) and Ptolemy X (Alexander I). During a long period of domestic strife, they ruled alternately in Egypt and Cyprus, until Ptolemy X was killed in a rising (88 BC), having melted down the golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great in order to pay his merceneries. Ptolemy IX ruled until 80 BC. Then Ptolemy XI (Alexander II), son of Ptolemy X, entered Alexandria with the support of Rome, married his step-mother, Berenice III, assassinated her, and was at once killed by the mob (80 BC). He was the last of the legitimate line.

Ptolemy XII (Auletes) was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX. He was elected by the Alexandrians after the assassination of Ptolemy XI, but spent most of his reign trying to buy the support of influential Romans. He was at last recognized in 55 BC, when he was restored after three years in exile. He left Egypt to his children, Cleopatra VII, aged 17, and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and subsequently the two vied with each other for power.

Cleopatra VII and the coming of the Romans Cleopatra VII was the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, and during her life (c. 68-30 BC) Egyptian history coalesces with that of the Roman world. After Julius Caesar defeated his rival Pompey the Great at Pharsalus, Caesar pursued Pompey to Egypt, where Ptolemy XIII had Pompey murdered (48 BC). Cleopatra persuaded Caesar to support her in her quarrel with her brother, and Ptolemy XIII was killed in the resulting war with the Romans. Cleopatra was placed on the throne to rule with her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, but the child died soon afterwards - tradition says he was poisoned on Cleopatra's orders. She lived openly as Caesar's mistress in Rome, and had a son by him, called Caesarion. After Caesar's assassination (44 BC) she returned to Egypt, and Caesarion was associated with her on the throne as Ptolemy XV.

After the defeat of Caesar's assassins at Philippi in 42 BC, Mark Antony, one of the ruling triumvirate of Rome, received Egypt as his part of the empire. In 41 he visited Egypt, and he and Cleopatra became lovers. In 40 he returned to Rome to marry Octavia, the sister of Octavian (the future Augustus), the other powerful member of the triumvirate. However, Antony resumed his liaison with Cleopatra, and when he divorced Octavia in 32 BC, Octavian induced the Roman Senate to declare war on Egypt.

In 31 BC the combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by the forces of Octavian at the Battle of Actium, off the west coast of Greece. Antony and Cleopatra fled back to Egypt, where Octavian followed them in 30 BC. Antony killed himself, and Cleopatra, knowing her kingdom was lost and refusing to become a Roman captive, died according to tradition, by applying an asp to her breast. Cleopatra's son by Caesar, the little Ptolemy XV, was murdered on Octavian's orders. Thus ended the reign of the Ptolemies, and Egypt became a Roman province.

The Ptolemies left many beautiful monuments behind them, among them those on the island of Philae. One of the last native kings of Egypt, Nectanebo I, had built a temple to Isis there, which Ptolemy II Philadelphus reconstructed. The unfinished kiosk, known as ‘Pharaoh's bed’, is one of the most beautiful ruins on the island. The temple of Ptolemy III Euergetes is also famous for its beauty.

The rule of Augustus in Egypt Octavian now became emperor, taking the name Augustus, and treated Egypt as part of his personal domain. Rome relied upon Egypt for its corn supply, and a rebellious governor, by holding back the grain ships, might reduce the capital to near starvation. Augustus therefore placed the province under an imperial prefect of equestrian rank; and no senator was allowed to hold office, or corn to enter the country, without the emperor's leave. Except that Romans replaced Greeks in most of the higher positions, the old order of government was largely retained, with the prefect taking the place of the Ptolemaic king, his powers being limited by right of appeal to the emperor.

The first prefect was Cornelius Gallus, who subdued Upper Egypt and established a nominal protectorate over the frontier district that had been abandoned by the later Ptolemies. His successor, Aelius Gallus, attempted unsuccessfully to conquer Arabia Felix (southern and southwestern Arabia), with a view to obtaining control of the spice trade; but the valuable Indian trade was secured for Egypt under the Emperor Claudius.

Later developments in Roman Egypt Other events in the history of Egypt during the next 200 years include a serious revolt of the native population during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (later 2nd century AD); the brief conquest by Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra (later 3rd century); and the persecution of Christians under the emperors Septimius Severus, Decius, and Diocletian (late 2nd-early 4th centuries AD).

After the overthrow of Zenobia by the Emperor Aurelian (AD 272), Probus was appointed governor of Egypt. He repelled the tribes of Blemmyes who came from what is now eastern Sudan and who were dominating the whole of the area around Thebes. Under Diocletian (ruled AD 284-305) the country was still troubled by them, and a formidable revolt broke out led by Achilleus, who called himself the Emperor Domitianus. Diocletian came to Egypt and captured Alexandria, and Achilleus was slain. The Blemmyes retired to their homelands, and an arrangement was made to pay them a fixed annual sum on the understanding that they ceased raiding Roman territory.

In 378 Theodosius the Great proclaimed Christianity to be the religion of his empire. In Egypt the process of converting the temples of the ancient gods into churches began. The temple of Serapis at Alexandria was the scene of a bloody conflict between the Christian mob and the adherents of the older gods, but finally it was converted into a church for the use of the Christians. This was the real deathblow to the old religion, and the Christians showed little mercy in asserting the supremacy of their belief.

The end of Roman rule After the fall of Rome in 476, Egypt remained part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. During the reign of Justinian (527-565), while the army was occupied in quelling an invasion of the Blemmyes, Chosroes I, the Sasanian king of Persia, invaded Egypt and easily conquered it. Heraclius (emperor 610-641) defeated the Persians and won back Egypt for a little while, but a new and stronger power was gathering forces on its borders. In 639 Egypt, weakened by its long internal struggles and utterly impoverished by years of misrule, fell an easy prey to Amr-Ibn-al-Asi, the general of the Caliph Umar, and the country became a province of the newly founded Arab empire.

For Egyptian history following the Arab conquest see Egypt.