many gods. The main god of the sun
was Re (or Ra). Each city had its own
special gods. When the city of Thebes
grew in importance, its special god
Amon did also. Eventually the
Egyptians combined Amon with Re.
Amon-Re was considered the king of
the gods.
Osiris, a god of the dead, was another
important god because the Egyptians
believed in life after death.Wealthy
Egyptian families stocked tombs with
items that they thought dead people
would use in the next life.
In addition, the Egyptians used salt and
chemicals to preserve dead bodies as
mummies. They even made mummies
of such animals as cats, ibises, and
crocodiles. Mummies of important
people lay in fancy coffins called sarcophagi.
The coffin of King Tutankhamen
was made of solid gold.
History
Earliest Egypt
People have lived along the banks of the
Nile River for at least 10,000 years. The
narrow valley of the Nile was once
swampy and overgrown with trees,
rushes, and papyrus (a tall, reedlike
plant). The people gradually cleared the
swamps and built villages. They learned
to plant and grow crops. Eventually,
they organized two kingdoms. Upper
Egypt was in the narrow river valley in
the south. Lower Egypt was in the
north, in the broad delta (triangular
piece of land) where the river flows into
the sea.
In about 2900 BC a king named Menes
united the two parts of Egypt. Menes
A tomb from ancient Egypt is painted with
hieroglyphics and many colorful pictures.
The pictures give an idea of what people at
the time looked like and what kind of clothing
they wore.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Egypt, Ancient 113
built the capital city of Memphis. The
site of Memphis is near Cairo, the capital
of modern Egypt.
Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms
After Menes, many kings, called
pharaohs, ruled ancient Egypt. During
the long history there were more than
30 dynasties, or ruling families, of
pharaohs. Historians have grouped
several of these dynasties into three
important periods: the Old Kingdom,
the Middle Kingdom, and the New
Kingdom. These existed from about
2600 to 30 BC.
The Old Kingdom lasted from 2575 to
2130 BC. It was during this period that
the Egyptians built their great pyramids.
Near the great pyramids, the Egyptians
made a huge sculpture called the Great
Sphinx. The Sphinx has the face of a
man and the body of a lion.
After 2130 BC Egypt suffered civil wars.
The country was split up until about
1938 BC. Then the rulers of Thebes, a
city far up the Nile in Upper Egypt,
defeated their enemies and reunited
Egypt. This began the Middle Kingdom,
which lasted until 1630 BC. During this
time, Egypt expanded its territory.
A second period of weakness followed
the Middle Kingdom. An Asian people
known as the Hyksos invaded Egypt.
The Egyptians finally forced out the
Hyksos by 1539 BC. This began the New
Kingdom, which lasted until 1075 BC.
A mighty pharaoh of the New Kingdom
was Thutmose III, who ruled from 1479
to 1426 BC. Thutmose’s reign was the
time of ancient Egypt’s greatest power
and wealth. Thutmose conquered Syria.
He also ordered the building of many
tombs and temples.
Later during the New Kingdom, the
Hebrews (the ancestors of Jewish
people) left Egypt, where they had been
slaves. This event, called the Exodus,
probably took place between 1279 and
1213 BC, during the reign of Ramses II.
Alexander and the Ptolemies
Peoples from Asia, first Assyrians and
then Persians, later took over Egypt.
Nefertiti was queen of ancient
Egypt from 1353 to 1336 BC. A
painted stone bust, or statue of
the queen’s head, can be seen
in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.
114 Egypt, Ancient BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Then in 332 BC Alexander the Great of
Macedonia (a country near Greece) conquered
Egypt. He founded the city of
Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile.
After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy, one of
his generals, seized the throne. In 323 BC
Ptolemy founded a new dynasty of
Egyptian kings, called the Ptolemies.
The Ptolemies were Macedonians who
spoke Greek, and many Egyptians disliked
having foreign rulers.
Nevertheless, under the Ptolemies Egypt
grew rich and powerful. They built the
Pharos, a huge lighthouse, at Alexandria.
Like the great pyramids, the Pharos was
one of the seven wonders of the ancient
world. The Ptolemies also built a famous
library at Alexandria. Scholars came
from all over the Greek-speaking world
to study there.
Roman and Muslim Conquests
The last of the Ptolemies was Queen
Cleopatra. Roman forces defeated her
navy at the battle of Actium in 31 BC. In
30 BC Egypt lost its independence to
Rome. After the Roman Empire split in
half in the AD 300s, Egypt became a part
of the eastern half, called the Byzantine
Empire.
Finally, in the AD 600s Muslim Arabs
took over Egypt. Egypt is still a Muslim
country today.
#More to explore
Cleopatra • Egypt • Hieroglyphics
• Mummy • Nile River • Pharaoh
• Pyramid • Re • Tutankhamen
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is
among the most famous landmarks in
the world. Known as the Tour Eiffel in
French, the tower was designed and
built by the French engineer Gustave
Eiffel in 1889.
The three-level tower is 984 feet (300
