Archaeological Sites of Egypt
Learn about important locations in ancient Egypt by watching this overview.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the rise and fall of ancient Mesopotamia by watching this overview.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the Indus civilization by watching this overview.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the Aymara people who live on islands in Lake Titicaca on the border between Bolivia and Peru.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.We've feared them, revered them, and recorded them. Watch this video to learn about how cats became pets.
Transcript
NARRATOR: This map illustrates some of the most important sites associated with ancient Egypt.
The area around the Nile delta holds several pyramids constructed during the major pyramid age. That period lasted from about 2600 BC to about 2325 BC. The pyramids were built as tombs for the kings and queens of Egypt.
At Saqqarah is one of the earliest stone buildings of importance that has survived from ancient Egypt. It is an early form of a pyramid, but it was built in six stages. It is known as the Step Pyramid. It was built about 2600 BC.
Further up the Nile at Dahshur stands an early attempt to build a true pyramid. The bottom part has steeper sides than the top part. Because of this, it is known as the Bent, Blunted, False, or Rhomboidal Pyramid. It was built by the first ruler of the 4th dynasty, which began about 2575 BC.
The most famous of the true pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians lies at Giza. Of the three pyramids built there, the Great Pyramid is the oldest and the largest.
Just south of the Great Pyramid rests the Great Sphinx. The sphinx has the facial features of a man but the body of a lion.
Up the Nile from Giza is Thebes. Thebes was the capital of the ancient Egyptian empire at its height, from about 1500 BC to about 1075 BC. The area around Thebes--which includes Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and Karnak--is host to many temples and shrines.
Thebes and the Valley of the Kings also served as the burial site of almost all the pharaohs during this period. By then the kings and queens of ancient Egypt were no longer buried in pyramids. Instead, the tombs were cut into the ground. There are 62 known tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The only one that was not plundered, or robbed, was the tomb of Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in 1922 and excavated. The wonderful treasures that were found there now reside in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. They show how rich the burial of a great pharaoh must have been.
The southern part of Thebes developed around a site known today as the Temple of Luxor. King Amenhotep III, who ruled in the 1300s BC, had the temple built to honor Amon, king of the gods.
An avenue of sphinxes connected the temple complex at Luxor to the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak. The most striking feature of the temple is a huge hall with 134 columns.
Abu Simbel was at the southern boundary of ancient Egypt. In the 1200s BC the pharaoh Ramses II ordered two temples cut from a cliffside there. Four colossal statues of Ramses himself adorn the main entrance to the Great Temple. The temple and the statues had to be removed from their original site in the 1960s. The nearby Aswan High Dam created a lake that threatened to cover the site.
The area around the Nile delta holds several pyramids constructed during the major pyramid age. That period lasted from about 2600 BC to about 2325 BC. The pyramids were built as tombs for the kings and queens of Egypt.
At Saqqarah is one of the earliest stone buildings of importance that has survived from ancient Egypt. It is an early form of a pyramid, but it was built in six stages. It is known as the Step Pyramid. It was built about 2600 BC.
Further up the Nile at Dahshur stands an early attempt to build a true pyramid. The bottom part has steeper sides than the top part. Because of this, it is known as the Bent, Blunted, False, or Rhomboidal Pyramid. It was built by the first ruler of the 4th dynasty, which began about 2575 BC.
The most famous of the true pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians lies at Giza. Of the three pyramids built there, the Great Pyramid is the oldest and the largest.
Just south of the Great Pyramid rests the Great Sphinx. The sphinx has the facial features of a man but the body of a lion.
Up the Nile from Giza is Thebes. Thebes was the capital of the ancient Egyptian empire at its height, from about 1500 BC to about 1075 BC. The area around Thebes--which includes Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and Karnak--is host to many temples and shrines.
Thebes and the Valley of the Kings also served as the burial site of almost all the pharaohs during this period. By then the kings and queens of ancient Egypt were no longer buried in pyramids. Instead, the tombs were cut into the ground. There are 62 known tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The only one that was not plundered, or robbed, was the tomb of Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in 1922 and excavated. The wonderful treasures that were found there now reside in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. They show how rich the burial of a great pharaoh must have been.
The southern part of Thebes developed around a site known today as the Temple of Luxor. King Amenhotep III, who ruled in the 1300s BC, had the temple built to honor Amon, king of the gods.
An avenue of sphinxes connected the temple complex at Luxor to the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak. The most striking feature of the temple is a huge hall with 134 columns.
Abu Simbel was at the southern boundary of ancient Egypt. In the 1200s BC the pharaoh Ramses II ordered two temples cut from a cliffside there. Four colossal statues of Ramses himself adorn the main entrance to the Great Temple. The temple and the statues had to be removed from their original site in the 1960s. The nearby Aswan High Dam created a lake that threatened to cover the site.