Ancient Egypt's Timeline Task Card
5000 BCE - Farming begins in the Nile Valley
3000 BCE to 2700 BCE - Archaic Period - Ruler of Two Lands
- King Menes (Narmer) unifies Upper (white crown) and Lower (red crown) Egypt.
- Memphis becomes the capital of Egypt
- earliest known textbook about surgery is written
- achievements include: using stone masonry in burial chambers, using baking pots and bricks in kilns, building irrigation and drainage ditches
2700 BCE to 2180 BCE - Old Kingdom – Age of the Pyramid Builders
- first pyramid built for King Zoser (Djoser) near Memphis – Step pyramid
-Great Pyramid and the Sphinx built for King Khufu (Cheops)
- Egyptians settle in Nubia
- god Re becomes important
- King or Pharaoh believed to have eternal life
- adoption of 365 day calendar, boat building, wood and stone sculpture, art, literature, embalming, sundials, irrigation
2180 BCE to 2133 BCE - End of the Old Kingdom
- government breaks down - Egypt is divided into many small, warring kingdoms, each with a different ruler.
- pyramids, tombs, statues and temples are looted and destroyed
2133 BCE to 1633 BCE - Middle Kingdom – Two Lands Reunited
- Egypt reunified by Theban rulers - empire moves farther into Nubia
- a canal is built connecting the Nile to the Red Sea
- earliest schools are established
-Kings of the Middle Kingdom reopened trade routes and mines -
King controlled trade and mining
-gold from deserts and Nubia made Egypt a rich country.
1633 BCE to 1567 BCE - End of the Middle Kingdom
- Hyksos and Asiatic people who introduce the horse drawn chariot, bronze, new weapons and improved spinning and weaving techniques conquer Egypt.
-Kings began to lose power to the nomarchs and priests
-people fought over who would be king
-the kingdom separated into provinces
-nomads pushed to the Delta
-Nubians raided Upper Egypt.
-trade with other people stopped, the mines were closed
-chaos reigned.
1567 BCE to 1085 BCE - The New Kingdom – Age of a Powerful Empire
- Egypt dominates the Ancient World – Thebes is the capital
- Thutmose I to IV rule, expanding Egypt's domination south throughout Nubia and Kush
- key elements of Egyptian economy were gold, slaves, ivory, ebony, ostrich feathers, perfumes and other African commodities
- Queen Hatshepsut, 1st female pharaoh, rules - Egyptians create famous obelisks
- King Amenhotep IV introduces worship of only one god – Aten - moves capital to Akhetaton and changes his name to Akhenaten. He marries Queen Nefertiti
- Prince Tutankhaton marries one of Akhenaten's daughters. When Akhenaten dies, Tutankhaton becomes king and changes his name to Tutankhamen. He restores Egypt to polytheism (worshipping more than one god) and moves the capital back to Thebes
- Kings Ramses I – XII rule Egypt, but their power is declining
- Ramses II builds Abu Simbel and other great temples in Nubia
332 BCE to AD 641 - The End of Egyptian Culture
- Many foreign rulers conquer Egypt
- Alexander the Great (Greek) conquers Egypt and establishes Alexandria as the capital and learning centre
- Cleopatra, the last Egyptian queen, tries to gain power for Egypt with the help of Julius Caesar of Rome. The Romans who fear he is giving Roman power to Egypt kill Caesar
- Roman Provenances are divided between Caesar's friend, Mark Antony (some believe he was Caesar's son) and Caesar's nephew, Octavian
- Octavian (Augustus Caesar) wants all Roman territories. He defeats and kills Mark Antony. Cleopatra kills herself.
- Egypt is ruled by Rome. Christianity becomes the main religion
- Egypt becomes a Muslim nation under the rule of Arabs and the Islam religion
• You are to create a newspaper article about the history of Egypt. Choose one important or interesting event from each of the five different eras and write an article about it. You will have to do some extra research. There are 3 kingdoms : Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and you should also write about the beginning and the end of Egypt – hence, 5 paragraphs .
• Each paragraph is worth 5 marks. Use the Internet and your textbooks to find more information. Presentation will count for an additional 5 marks.
HOME