OH PHARAOH!
OH PHARAOH!
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TIMELINE
Following the close of the Ice Age between 10,000 and 8,000 BC, the population in Africa boomed. But the gradual global warming meant that the heavily-forested areas of North Africa slowly but inexorably turned to desert, driving its many peoples into ever smaller pockets. The largest pocket was the area along the banks of the River Nile, where annual floods covered the riverside lands with black mud, which made the land much more fertile. But it was a double-edged sword; if the floods were too low less food was produced leading to starvation, whilst higher than expected floods tended to drown people.
Dynasties are different and sometimes unconnected royal families, some of which ruled over all Egypt and some only part. Thus sometimes several dynasties ruled concurrently. This of course only complicates the already complex dating difficulties.
ARCHAIC/EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD (3000 B.C. - 2686 B.C.) DYNASTIES 0-2
c. 3200 B.C.: First settlements in Nile valley.
c. 3100 B.C.: Upper and Lower Egypt become the two main kingdoms.
2920: King Aha of Upper Egypt (up river) conquers Lower Egypt. A new Egyptian crown, combining the white (Upper) and red (Lower) old ones is formed. The kingdom stretches for nearly 700 miles along the Nile. Also around this time, the first pictograms are developed, the forerunners of hieroglyphs and letters.
2704 - 2686: King Qa'a's death. The last king who, when he died, had all his servants killed so they could serve him in the afterlife.
THE OLD KINGDOM (2686 B.C. - 2152 B.C.) DYNASTIES 3-6
2686: King Djoser develops the existing shrines into the first Step Pyramid
c. 2650: Pictograms develop into hieroglyphs.
2613: King Sneferu builds the first Bent Pyramid. It wasn't meant to be, but someone got the maths wrong and the weak foundations sagged, tipping the pyramid slightly!
2558: King Khufu builds the Great Pyramid of Giza - but is never buried there! But these
larger pyramids threaten to bankrupt Egypt, and make the king very unpopular!
2548: King Djedefre builds the Sphinx.
2520 - 2494: King Khafre agrees a new calendar; 365 days, 12 months of 30 days - plus 5 'spare days'! Unfortunately there is no leap-year calculation, so the calendar gradually drifts out of kilter over the following centuries.
2246-2152: King Pepi II, who rules for over 90 years, loses power to the nomarchs (local town rulers). A breakdown in the regular Nile floodings leads to starvation for many peasants.
THE FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (2152 - 2007 B.C.) DYNASTIES 6- 11
Very little information on this period. The two main powers in Egypt were Thebes (up river) and Herakleopolis (mid-river). Thebes eventually emerges victorious.
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM (2007 - 1759 B.C.) DYNASTIES 11 - 12
2007 - 1986: Mentuhotep II crushes nomarchs and restores central control.
1937-08: Amenemhet I. In his reign the first bread and bakeries appear.
1836-1817: Sesostris III invades Nubia.
1763 - 1759: Queen Sebeknefru, 1st woman ruler to rule as of own right. During the Middle Kingdom, incomers wer welcomed into Egyptian society but never acquired rights. As such they retained their old cultures and grew stronger. The Egyptians called them Hyksos (the shepherded ones), and during Sebeknefru's reign they finally rebelled.
THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (1759 - 1576 B.C.) DYNASTIES 13 - 17
1588 - 1576: King Tao II is killed by Hyksos when he attacks them. The Hyksos king complained that the snoring of the royal hippos at Thebes was keeping him awake - 400 miles away in Avaris!
THE NEW KINGDOM (1576 - 1085 B.C.) DYNASTIES 18 - 20
1579: King Amosis reunites Egypt. In the years that follow, most minority groups are forced or ersuaded to leave, most famously the Hebrews around 1300.
1479-1458: Queen Hatshepsut causes consternation when she usurps Thutmose II and reigns on her own. When she is overthrown by Thutmose III after a successful reign, all her monuments are defaced and she is written out of Egyptian history. The so-called Cleopatra's Needle in London was dedicated to her.
1352 - 1336: King Akhenaton I causes chaos in belief in One God - and is murdered by uncle Ay.
1336 - 1327: Tutankhamun king when 9. Tries to take over power when 18 - probably murdered by uncle Ay.
1327 - 1323: King Ay II arranges for his own granddaughter (Tut's widow) Ankhesenamun to marry Prince Zenzanna of the Hittites - then murders him and marries her himself. Ugh!
1264: King Rameses II fights and loses battle of Qadesh against Hittites - but scribes say he won!
1213 - 1203: King Memeptah defeats the Sea Peoples.
1184-1153: King Rameses III defeats the Sea Peoples, repels Libyan invasion then defeats Lybia.
THE THIRD INTERMEDIATE OR DECADENCE PERIOD (1085 - 664 B.C.) DYNASTIES 21 - 24
945 - 924: King Shoshenq I invades and takes Jerusalem. Otherwise this is a pretty poor period of Egyptian history.
THE LATE PERIOD (664 - 332 B.C.) DYNASTIES 25 - 30
664 - 610: King Psamtite renounces Assyrian rule in 660
525: Invasion of Cambyses III of Persia
404 - 399: King Amyrtanis, the only ruler of the 28th dynasty, defeats the Persians and throws them out.
360 - 343: King Nectaneb II is the last ever Egyptian-born pharaoh.
THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD (332 - 30 B.C.) DYNASTIES 31 - 32
332: Alexander the Great (Macedonian) conquers Egypt. On his death the country passes to his general Ptolemy I (323 - 285), who becomes king officially in 305. His successor form the Ptolemaic dynasty.
205 - 181: Ptolemy V becomes king aged just 5
81 - 80: Queen Cleopatra IV is forced to marry her stepson Ptolemy XI, who kills her 19 days after the wedding
51 - 30: Queen Cleopatra VII, she of the asses' milk. Woos Julius Caesar of powerful Rome, then after his death in 44 Mark Anthony. Their fleet is defeated by Octavian (Augustus) at the battle of Actium. Both commit suicide.
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