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The Egyption history
The earliest stages of Egyptian history can be divided into seven stages. An Egyptian priest named “Manetho” wrote a history of Egypt dividing its past through Greek rule into 31 Dynasties. We will try to organize those dynasties into the various stages of ancient Egyptian history, mentioning the great rulers. The earliest period is known as the Archaic or Early Dynastic Period (3100-2686 B.C). This consists of Dynasties 1 and 2. Most of the rulers and events of this time are somewhat shadowy. We learn of a certain ruler named “Narmer”, who unified Upper and Lower Egypt. Dynasties 3 through 6 are known as the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 B.C). The Old Kingdom is know also as the Pyramid Age, because it is the time when many of the great pyramids were built including the ones on the Giza Plateau. The Old Kingdom gradually collapsed due to foreign pressures, economic collapse and ineffective rule. Egypt lapsed into a disunited country again, with successive rulers in the north and in the south. These periods of Egyptian history are known as Intermediate Periods. The First Intermediate Period (2181-2050 B.C) lasted from Dynasties 7 through 10. Around 2050 B.C a king from “Thebes” named “Mentuhotep” crushed “Herakleopolis” and became king of a unified Egypt. This assured in a new period know as the Middle Kingdom (2052-1786 B.C), Dynasties 11-12. This kingdom reached its high point during the reign of “Amenemhat III”.
After the falling of the dynastic 12 around 1775 B.C, there was a lot of fighting over the kingdom between ministers and high ranks in the army. This age is know as the Second Intermediate Period (1775-1570 B.C), Dynasties 13-17. As a result of this fighting, turbulence, disorder and weakness prevailed all over the country. This allowed the “Heksos” to occupy the middle and he northern parts of the country, while the “Nubians” controlled the southern parts. “Thebes” woke up after a while to get their kingdom back under the command of “Ahmos”. The following age is known as the Kingdom (1571-1098 B.C) lasted from Dynasties 18 through 20. In this age Egypt realized the importance of having an army to protect the country from any invasion. Many great kings ruled Egypt during that period like “Tehotmes III” and “Ramses II”, who signed the first written peace treaty in the world. The last period of Pharahonic history is known as the Late Kingdom (1098-300 B.C), Dynasties 21-30. It was an age of weakness and poverty. The ages of glory had ended and began the ages of weakness and foreign invasions, except for a short period when the Egyptians tried to have their glory back.
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