Visual Timeline: Egypt

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6000 BCE 5500 BCE 5000 BCE 4500 BCE 4000 BCE 3500 BCE 3000 BCE 2500 BCE 2000 BCE 1500 BCE 1000 BCE 500 BCE 0 CE 500 CE  
 
 
6000 BCE: Nile River Valley first inhabited.
 
 
6000 BCE: Burial of the dead in Egypt.
 
6000 BCE: Earliest Egyptian mastabas dug at Saqqara.
 
 
5500 BCE: Oldest faience workshop in Egypt founded at Abydos.
 
5000 BCE: Organised farming begins in Egypt.
 
 
4000 BCE: Depictions of gods and afterlife on walls of Egyptian tombs.
 
3414 BCE - 3100 BCE: Xois founded as a city during the 1st Dynasty.
 
3200 BCE: Hieroglyphic script developed in Egypt.
 
 
3200 BCE - 3000 BCE: Probable dates for creation of Narmer Palette.
 
 
3150 BCE - 2613 BCE: Early Dynastic Period in Egypt. First Kings.
 
3150 BCE - 3100 BCE: Reign of Menes, a.k.a. Narmer, first king who is thought to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt.
 
 
3150 BCE: King Menes unifies Egypt through conquest.
 
3100 BCE - 2181 BCE: Xois inscribed on Palermo Stone as an ancient city during the 5th Dynasty.
 
3000 BCE: Trade already established between Syria and Egypt.
 
2670 BCE: Reign of King Djoser in Egypt, builder of the first pyramid.
 
 
2670 BCE - 2650 BCE: The Step Pyramid is built by Imhotep under reign of King Djoser.
 
 
2667 BCE - 2600 BCE: Attributed dates of Imhotep's medical and architectural achievements.
 
2667 BCE - 2648 BCE: Imhotep in Egypt writes medical texts describing diagnosis and treatment of 100 diseases and 48 injuries.
 
2613 BCE - 2181 BCE: The Period of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
 
 
2560 BCE: The Great Pyramid of Giza is constructed by Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops).
 
2500 BCE: The Great Sphinx of Giza is built.
 
 
2181 BCE - 2040 BCE: First Intermediate Period in Egypt.
 
2064 BCE - 1986 BCE: Twin Dynasty Wars in Egypt.
 
1800 BCE: Bronze working introduced to Egypt.
 
1800 BCE: The Kahun Gynecological Papyrus deals with women's health and contraception.
 
 
1783 BCE: Avaris is built and set as capital of Hyksos.
 
1782 BCE - 1570 BCE: Second Intermediate Period in Egypt.
 
1700 BCE: The Kingdom of Kush is formed to the south of Egypt.
 
 
1650 BCE - 1550 BCE: Xois serves as capital of the 14th Dynasty.
 
1600 BCE: The Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text, is written, supposedly as a copy of Imhotep's earlier work.
 
1570 BCE - 1069 BCE: The New Kingdom of Egypt.
 
 
1570 BCE: Ahmose I defeats and expels the Hyksos from Egypt and destroy their capital Avaris.
 
 
1550 BCE - 1070 BCE: Composition of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
 
 
1504 BCE - 1492 BCE: Egyptian empire reaches greatest extent under Thutmose I.
 
1500 BCE: Egyptian empire extends to the Euphrates.
 
1479 BCE - 1458 BCE: Queen Hatshepsut rules Egypt.
 
 
1458 BCE: Kadesh and Megiddo lead a Canaanite alliance against the Egyptian invasion by Thutmose III.
 
 
1458 BCE - 1425 BCE: Reign of Thutmose III in Egypt.
 
1457 BCE: Battle of Megiddo: Thutmose III of Egypt defeats a coalition of Canaan, Kadesh, Mitanni, and Megiddo led by Durusha, king of Kadesh.
 
1386 BCE - 1353 BCE: Reign of Amenhotep III of Egypt.
 
 
1353 BCE - 1336 BCE: Reign of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father, 'Heretic King' of Egypt.
 
1336 BCE - 1327 BCE: Reign of Tutankhamun with Ankhsenamun as queen.
 
 
1334 BCE: Tutankhamun initiates religious reforms returning Egypt to traditional belief structure.
 
1327 BCE - 1323 BCE: Reign of Ay in Egypt.
 
1320 BCE: Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Horemheb, succeeds Ay as ruler of Egypt
 
1320 BCE - 1292 BCE: Reign of Horemheb in Egypt, Tutankhamun's name erased from record.
 
1303 BCE: Birth of Ramesses II of Egypt.
 
 
1295 BCE - 1294 BCE: The reign of Ramesses I in Egypt.
 
 
1295 BCE - 1188 BCE: The 19th Dynasty of Egypt.
 
 
1294 BCE - 1279 BCE: The reign of Seti I in Egypt.
 
 
1279 BCE - 1212 BCE: Reign of Ramesses II (The Great) in Egypt.
 
1274 BCE: Battle of Kadesh between Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittites.
 
 
1264 BCE - 1244 BCE: Probable dates for the construction of Abu Simbel.
 
 
1258 BCE: The Treaty of Kadesh between Egyptians and Hittites. The world's first peace treaty.
 
 
1244 BCE - 1224 BCE: Other probable dates for the construction of Abu Simbel.
 
1184 BCE - 1153 BCE: Reign of Ramesses III, Pharaoh of Egypt.
 
1180 BCE: The Sea Peoples begin increased incursions into Egypt.
 
1180 BCE - 1178 BCE: Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty fortifies Xois against the threat of the invading Sea Peoples.
 
1178 BCE: Ramesses III defends Egypt from the Sea Peoples on the shores at Xois, defeating them completely.
 
1069 BCE - 525 BCE: Third Intermediate Period in Egypt.
 
750 BCE: Iron working is introduced to Egypt.
 
712 BCE - 671 BCE: Egypt is ruled by the Kushite dynasty.
 
 
671 BCE: Second Egyptian Campaign, Assyrian army successfully captures Memphis and conquers Egypt.
 
 
671 BCE: Egypt is conquered by Assyria.
 
 
667 BCE - 665 BCE: Ashurbanipal wages war in Egypt to put down rebellions.
 
 
664 BCE: Psamtik I becomes Pharoah in Egypt.
 
 
653 BCE: Egypt expels Assyrians.
 
601 BCE: Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon unsuccessfully attempts to invade Egypt.
 
 
525 BCE: Imhotep is deified in Egypt.
 
 
525 BCE - 404 BCE: Persia conquers Egypt.
 
 
525 BCE: Cambyses II of Persia takes the city of Pelusium, conquers Egypt.
 
 
520 BCE: Darius of Persia links the Nile and the Red Sea by a canal.
 
 
398 BCE - 380 BCE: Plato travels in Egypt, Cyrene, Italy, Syracuse and Sicily.
 
341 BCE: The Persians complete conquest of Egypt.
 
 
332 BCE: Alexander the Great conquers Phoenicia and turns toward Egypt.
 
331 BCE: Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great without resistance.
 
 
331 BCE: Alexander the Great founds Alexandria at the port town of Rhakotis in Egypt.
 
 
323 BCE: Death of Alexander the Great.
 
323 BCE - 282 BCE: Rule of Ptolemy I Soter.
 
 
323 BCE - 31 BCE: The Hellenistic Age. Greek thought and culture infuses with indigenous people.
 
 
305 BCE - 285 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy I in Egypt, who initiated the Great Library.
 
300 BCE: Ptolemy I founds the Museum of Alexandria.
 
 
282 BCE - 246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy II in Egypt, development of Library at Alexandria.
 
277 BCE - 276 BCE: 4,000 Celts are employed in Egypt under Ptolemy II.
 
 
259 BCE: Celts in Egypt fail to overthrow Ptolemy II and are starved to death on an island.
 
247 BCE: The Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos) is completed.
 
 
217 BCE: 14,000 Celts serve under Ptolemy IV in his victory at Raphia over the Seleucid King Antiochus III.
 
69 BCE - 30 BCE: Life of Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
 
47 BCE: Cleopatra VII is sole ruler of Egypt; she presents herself as the goddess Isis.
 
30 BCE: Egypt becomes province of the Roman Empire.
 
 
30 BCE: Death of Cleopatra VII, end of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt.
 
 
30 BCE - 14 CE: Reign of Augustus Caesar in Rome, restoration of Roman province of Alexandria.
 
 
1 CE: First non-stop voyages from Egypt to India.
 
 
30 CE - 476 CE: Egypt remains a province of the Roman Empire.
 
 
50 CE - 60 CE: Establishment of various Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Egypt, and at least the city of Rome.
 
 
232 CE: Emperor Maximinus Thrax commands a legion in Egypt.
 
 
527 CE - 646 CE: The Byzantine Empire controls Egypt.
 
 
646 CE: The Arab Muslims conquer Egypt under Caliph Umar.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6000 BCE 5000 BCE 4000 BCE 3000 BCE 2000 BCE 1000 BCE 0 CE