A civilization built on the Nile
Almost all Egyptians lived along the Nile, where annual floods left fertile soil. Farming supported towns, taxes and a strong central government led by a pharaoh.
Main periods
- Early unification (c. 3100 BCE): Upper and Lower Egypt are united, traditionally under Narmer.
- Old Kingdom: the age of the pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Giza, built for Khufu, dates to around 2560 BCE.
- Middle Kingdom: a period of reunification, trade and literature.
- New Kingdom: the empire at its height, with rulers such as Hatshepsut, Ramesses II and Tutankhamun.
Writing and the Rosetta Stone
Egyptians used hieroglyphs. The knowledge to read them was lost, until the Rosetta Stone, found in 1799, helped Jean-Francois Champollion decipher the script in the 1820s.
Religion and mummification
Egyptians believed in an afterlife. Bodies of important people were mummified and buried with goods for the next life. Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb was found by Howard Carter in 1922.
The end of independent Egypt
After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled. Its last active ruler, Cleopatra VII, died in 30 BCE and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.