ancient Egypt

Introduction & Top Questions
Introduction to ancient Egyptian civilization
- Life in ancient Egypt
- The king and ideology: administration, art, and writing
- Sources, calendars, and chronology
- The recovery and study of ancient Egypt
The Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods
- Predynastic Egypt
- The Early Dynastic period (c. 2900–c. 2544 bce)
  - The 1st dynasty (c. 2900–c. 2730 bce)
  - The 2nd dynasty (c. 2730–c. 2590 bce)
  - The 3rd dynasty (c. 2592–c. 2544 bce)
The Old Kingdom (c. 2543–c. 2120 bce) and the First Intermediate period (c. 2118–c. 1980 bce)
- The Old Kingdom
  - The 4th dynasty (c. 2543–c. 2436 bce)
  - The 5th dynasty (c. 2435–c. 2306 bce)
  - The 6th dynasty (c. 2305–c. 2118 bce)
  - The 7th and 8th dynasties (c. 2150–c. 2118 bce)
- The First Intermediate period
  - The 9th dynasty (c. 2118–c. 2080 bce)
  - The 10th (c. 2080–c. 1980 bce) and 11th (c. 2080–c. 1940 bce) dynasties
The Middle Kingdom (c. 1980–c. 1760 bce) and the Second Intermediate period (c. 1759–c. 1539 bce)
- The Middle Kingdom
  - The 12th dynasty (c. 1939–c. 1760 bce)
  - The 13th dynasty (c. 1759–c. 1630 bce) and 14th dynasty (c. 1759–c. 1530 bce)
- The Second Intermediate period
  - The 15th (c. 1630–c. 1530 bce) through 17th (c. 1630–c. 1540 bce) dynasties
  - The end of the Second Intermediate Period
The New Kingdom (c. 1539–c. 1077 bce)
- The 18th dynasty (c. 1539–c. 1292 bce)
  - Ahmose
  - Amenhotep I
  - Thutmose I and Thutmose II
  - Hatshepsut and Thutmose III
  - Amenhotep II
  - Thutmose IV
  - Foreign influences during the early 18th dynasty
  - Amenhotep III
  - Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)
  - The aftermath of Amarna
  - Ay and Horemheb
- The Ramesside period (19th and 20th dynasties) (c. 1292–c. 1077 bce)
  - Ramses I and Seti I
  - Ramses II
  - Merneptah
  - Last years of the 19th dynasty
  - The early 20th dynasty: Setnakht and Ramses III
  - Ramses IV
  - The later Ramesside kings
Egypt from 1076 bce to the Macedonian invasion
- The Third Intermediate period (c. 1076–723 bce)
  - The 21st dynasty
  - Libyan rule: the 22nd and 23rd dynasties
  - The 24th and 25th dynasties
- The Late period (664–332 bce)
- Egypt under Achaemenid rule
  - The 27th dynasty
  - The 28th, 29th, and 30th dynasties
  - The second Persian period
Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 bce)
- The Macedonian conquest
- The Ptolemaic dynasty
- The Ptolemies (305–145 bce)
- Dynastic strife and decline (145–30 bce)
- Government and conditions under the Ptolemies
  - Administration
  - Economy
  - Religion
  - Culture
Roman and Byzantine Egypt (30 bce– 642 ce)
- Egypt as a province of Rome
- Administration and economy under Rome
- Society, religion, and culture
- Egypt’s role in the Byzantine Empire
- Byzantine government of Egypt
- The advance of Christianity

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt.

Stone with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a pottery shard with Greek script, linked by a blue arrow; faint pyramids in the background.

A split image of a lion and an orange cat are shown against a vintage map.

Nile River valley in ancient Egypt

A chart showing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic numerals, with symbols representing 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000, plus an example using these symbols to form the number 258,458.

A chart displays Egyptian hieratic numerals for units, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands, with each value represented by a unique red symbol in handwritten script.

Ancient Egyptian illustration from the Book of the Dead showing Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, with gods seated above and hieroglyphic text throughout.

The first side of the Palermo Stone, a dark, irregularly shaped stone slab inscribed with rows of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Howard Carter wearing a suit, bow tie, and tall top hat, poses for a formal portrait.

At a Glance

Al-Jizah. Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt. Side view of Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background. The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south, east-west (see notes)

Pop Quiz: 18 Things to Know About Ancient Egypt

Related Questions

Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt. — Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Khufu Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background, Giza, Egypt.

ancient Egypt

ancient civilization

Written by

Alan Edouard SamuelAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026 •History

ancient Egypt, civilization in northeastern Africa that dates from the 4th millennium bce. Its many achievements, preserved in its art and monuments, hold a fascination that continues to grow as archaeological finds expose its secrets. This article focuses on Egypt from its prehistory through its unification under Menes (Narmer) in the 3rd millennium bce—sometimes used as a reference point for Egypt’s origin—and up to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century ce. For subsequent history...

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