Prehistory (Pre-3100 BC) : Prehistoric Egypt Population History of Egypt

Prehistory (pre-3100 BC)[edit]
Main articles: Prehistoric Egypt and Population history of Egypt
Artifacts of Egypt from the Prehistoric period, from 4400 to 3100 BC. First row from top left: a Badarian ivory
figurine, a Naqada II jar, a Bat figurine. Second row: a diorite vase, a flint knife, a cosmetic palette.
There is evidence of petroglyphs along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium
BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishermen was replaced by a grain-grinding culture. Climate
changes and/or overgrazing around 6000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt,
forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, where they developed a settled
agricultural economy and more centralized society.[3]
By about 6000 BC, a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley.[4] During the Neolithic era, several
predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badari culture and the
successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to dynastic Egypt. The earliest
known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years.
Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more
than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through
trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the
predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC. [5]
Ancient Egypt (3100–332 BC)[edit]

Main articles: Ancient Egypt and History of ancient Egypt
Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom[edit]

Main articles: Early dynastic period of Egypt and Old Kingdom of Egypt
A unified kingdom was formed in 3150 BC by King Menes, leading to a series of dynasties that ruled
Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained
distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs.
The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom.
The first two ruling dynasties of a unified Egypt set the stage for the Old Kingdom period (c. 2700–
2200 BC), which constructed many pyramids, most notably the Third Dynasty pyramid of Djoser and
the Fourth Dynasty Giza Pyramids.
First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom and the Second

Intermediate Period[edit]
Main articles: First Intermediate Period of Egypt, Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and Second
Intermediate Period of Egypt
The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years.[6] Stronger
Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the
country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat
III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, that of
the Semitic-speaking Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC
and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led
by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital
from Memphis to Thebes.
New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period and Late Period[edit]

Main articles: New Kingdom of Egypt, Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, and Late Period of
ancient Egypt
The New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt
as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far south
as Tombos in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is noted for some of
the most well known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his
wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first historically attested expression
of monotheism came during this period as Atenism, although some[who?] consider Atenism to be a form
of monolatry rather than of monotheism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought new ideas to
the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded and conquered
by Libyans, Nubians and Assyrians, but native Egyptians eventually drove them out and regained
control of their country.[7]
Achaemenid rule[edit]
Egyptian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief.
In the sixth century BC, the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt.[8] The entire Twenty-seventh

Dynasty of Egypt, from 525 BC to 402 BC, save for Petubastis III, was an entirely Persian-ruled
period, with the Achaemenid kings being granted the title of pharaoh.[8] The Thirtieth Dynasty was the
last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. [8] It fell to the Persians again in 343 BC after
the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle.[8]
Second Achaemenid conquest[edit]

The Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Second Egyptian Satrapy, was effectively a
short-living province of the Achaemenid Empire between 343 BC to 332 BC. [9] After an interval of
independence, during which three indigenous dynasties reigned (the 28th, 29th and 30th
dynasty), Artaxerxes III (358–338 BC) reconquered the Nile valley for a brief second period (343–
332 BC), which is called the Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, thus starting another period of pharaohs of
Persian origin.[10]
A team led by Johannes Krause managed the first reliable sequencing of the genomes of 90
mummified individuals in 2017. Whilst not conclusive, because of the non-exhaustive time frame and
restricted location that the mummies represent, their study nevertheless showed that these Ancient
Egyptians "closely resembled ancient and modern Near Eastern populations, especially those in the
Levant, and had almost no DNA from sub-Saharan Africa. What's more, the genetics of the
mummies remained remarkably consistent even as different powers—including Nubians, Greeks,
and Romans—conquered the empire".[11]

Prehistory (Pre-3100 BC) : Prehistoric Egypt Population History of Egypt

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prehistory (Pre-3100 BC) : Prehistoric Egypt Population History of Egypt

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prehistory (pre-3100 BC)[edit]

Main articles: Prehistoric Egypt and Population history of Egypt

Ancient Egypt (3100–332 BC)[edit]

Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom[edit]

First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom and the Second

New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period and Late Period[edit]

In the sixth century BC, the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt.[8] The entire Twenty-seventh

Second Achaemenid conquest[edit]

You might also like