Egypt, Ancient, was the birthplace of one of the world's first civilizations. This

advanced culture arose about 5,000 years ago in the Nile River Valley in

northeastern Africa. It thrived for over 2,000 years and so became one of the

longest lasting civilizations in history.

The mighty Nile River was the lifeblood of ancient Egypt. Every year, it

overflowed and deposited a strip of rich, black soil along each bank. The fertile

soil enabled farmers to raise a huge supply of food. The ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet, meaning Black Land, after the dark soil. The Nile also

provided water for irrigation and was Egypt's main transportation route. For all

these reasons, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt "the gift of the

Nile."

The ancient Egyptians made outstanding contributions to the development of

civilization. They created the world's first national government, basic forms of

arithmetic, and a 365-day calendar. They invented a form of picture writing called hieroglyphics. They also invented papyrus, a paper like writing material

made from the stems of papyrus plants. The Egyptians developed one of the first

religions to emphasize life after death. They built great cities in which many

skilled architects, doctors, engineers, painters, and sculptors worked.

The best-known achievements of the ancient Egyptians, however, are the

pyramids they built as tombs for their rulers. The most famous pyramids stand at

Giza. These gigantic stone structures—marvels of architectural and engineering

skills—have been preserved by the dry climate for about 4,500 years. They serve

as spectacular reminders of the glory of ancient Egypt.

Importance of the Nile River to Ancient Egypt

The Egyptian worldThe land. Ancient Egypt was a long, narrow country through which the Nile River

flowed. Deserts bordered the country on the east, south, and west. The

Mediterranean Sea lay to the north. The Nile River flowed north out of central

Africa through the Egyptian desert to the Mediterranean. The Egyptians called the desert Deshret, meaning Red Land. The Nile's course through Egypt was

about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers). The river split into several channels north of

what is now Cairo, forming the Nile Delta. Rolling desert land lay west of the Nile

Valley, and mountains rose to the east.

The Nile River flooded its banks each year. The flooding started in June, with the

rainy season in central Africa. The rains raised the level of the river as the Nile

flowed northward. The floodwaters usually went down in September, leaving a

strip of fertile land about 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide on each riverbank. Farmers

then plowed and seeded the rich soil. The Egyptians also depended on the Nile

as their chief transportation route. Memphis and Thebes—two capitals of ancient

Egypt—and many other cities developed along the river because of its

importance to farming and transportation.

The people. Most people of ancient Egypt lived in the Nile River Valley. Scholars

believe the valley had from about 1 million to 4 million people, and possibly more,

at various times during ancient Egypt's history. The rest of the population lived in

the delta and in oases west of the river, in the Libyan Desert.

The ancient Egyptians had dark skin and dark hair. They spoke a language that

was related both to the Semitic languages of southwestern Asia and to certain

languages of northern Africa. The Egyptian language was written in

hieroglyphics, a system of picture symbols that stood for ideas and sounds. The

Egyptians began to use this system about 3000 B.C. It consisted of over 700

picture symbols. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics to inscribe monuments and

temples and to record official texts. For everyday use, they developed simpler hieroglyphic forms called hieratic and demotic.

During the New Kingdom (about 1539-1075 B.C.), ancient Egypt had three main

social classes—upper, middle, and lower. The upper class consisted of the royal

family, rich landowners, government officials, high-ranking priests and army

officers, and doctors. The middle class was made up chiefly of merchants,

manufacturers, and craft workers. The lower class, the largest class by far,

consisted of unskilled laborers. Most of them worked on farms. Prisoners

captured in foreign wars became slaves and formed a separate class.

Ancient Egypt's class system was not rigid. People in the lower or middle class,

as well as slaves, could move to a higher position. They improved their status

mainly through marriage or success in their jobs. Even slaves had rights. They

could own personal items, get married, and inherit land. They could also be given

their freedom.

Life of the peopleFamily life. The father headed the family in ancient Egypt. Upon his death, his

oldest son became the head. Women had almost as many rights as men. They

could own and inherit property, buy and sell goods, and make a will. A wife could

obtain a divorce. Few other ancient civilizations gave women all these rights.

Children played with dolls, tops, and stuffed leather balls. They had board games

with moves determined by the throw of dice. They also had several kinds of pets,

including cats, dogs, monkeys, baboons, and birds.

Kings commonly had several wives at once. In many cases, a king’s chief wife

belonged to the royal family.

Education. Only a small percentage of boys and girls went to school in ancient

Egypt, and most of them came from upper-class families. These students

attended schools for scribes. Scribes made written records for government

offices, temples, and other institutions. They also read and wrote letters for the

large numbers of Egyptians who could not read and write.

The king's palace, government departments, and temples operated the scribal

schools. All the schools prepared the students to become scribes or to follow

other careers. The main subjects were reading, literature, geography,

mathematics, and writing. The students learned writing by copying literature,

letters, and business accounts. They used papyrus, the world's first paperlike

material, and wrote with brushes made of reeds whose ends were softened and shaped. The Egyptians made ink by mixing water and soot, a black powder

formed in the burning of wood or other substances.

Most Egyptian boys followed their fathers' occupations and were taught by their

fathers. Some boys thus learned a trade, but the majority became farmers. Many

parents placed their sons with master craftsmen, who taught carpentry, pottery

making, or other skills. Boys who wanted to become doctors probably went to

work with a doctor after finishing their basic schooling. Most girls were trained for

the roles of wife and mother. Their mothers taught them cooking, sewing, and

other skills.

Ancient Egypt had many libraries. A famous library in Alexandria had about

500,000 papyrus scrolls, which dealt with astronomy, geography, and many other

subjects. Alexandria also had an outstanding museum.

Food, clothing, and shelter. Bread was the chief food in the diet of most

ancient Egyptians, and beer was the favorite beverage. The bread was made

from wheat, and the beer from barley. Many Egyptians also enjoyed a variety of

vegetables and fruits, fish, milk, cheese, butter, and meat from ducks and geese.

Wealthy Egyptians regularly ate beef, antelope and gazelle meat, and fancy

cakes and other baked goods. They drank grape, date, and palm wine. The

people ate with their fingers.

The Egyptians generally dressed in white linen garments. Women wore robes or

tight dresses with shoulder straps. Men wore skirts or robes. The Egyptians often

wore colored, shoulder-length headdresses. Rich Egyptians wore wigs, partly for

protection against the sun. Wealthy Egyptians also wore sandals made of

papyrus or palm leaves. The common people usually went barefoot. Young

children rarely wore any clothes.

The ancient Egyptians liked to use cosmetics and wear jewelry. Women wore red

lip powder, dyed their hair, and painted their fingernails. They outlined their eyes

and colored their eyebrows with gray, black, or green paint. Men also outlined

their eyes and often wore as much makeup as women. Both sexes used perfume

and wore necklaces, rings, and bracelets. Combs, mirrors, and razors were

common grooming aids.

Typical country estate in Ancient Egypt

The Egyptians built their houses with bricks of dried mud. They used trunks of

palm trees to support the flat roofs. Many city houses were narrow buildings with

three or more floors. Most poor Egyptians lived in one- to three-room huts. The

typical middle-class Egyptian lived in a one- or two-story house with several

rooms. Many rich Egyptians had houses with as many as 70 rooms. Some of

these homes were country estates with orchards, pools, and large gardens.

Egyptian houses had small windows placed high in the walls to help keep out the

sun. The people spread wet mats on the floors and hung them on the walls and

porches to help cool the air inside their houses. On hot nights, they often slept on

the roof, where it was cooler.

Ancient Egyptian furniture included wooden stools, chairs, beds, and chests.

People used pottery to store, cook, and serve food. They cooked food in clay

ovens or over fires and used charcoal and wood for fuel. Oil lamps provided

lighting. The lamps had flax wicks and burned oil in shallow bowls or hollowed-

out stones.

Recreation. The ancient Egyptians enjoyed numerous leisure activities. They

fished and swam in the Nile River. Sailing on the Nile was a popular family

activity. Adventurous Egyptians hunted crocodiles, lions, hippopotamuses, and

wild cattle with bows and arrows or spears. Many Egyptians liked to watch wrestling matches. At home, the Egyptians played senet, a board game similar

to backgammon.

ReligionGods and goddesses. The ancient Egyptians believed that various deities (gods and goddesses) influenced every aspect of nature and

every human activity. They therefore worshiped many deities. The main god was

the sun god Re. The Egyptians relied on Re and the goddess Renenutet for good

harvests. The most important goddess was Isis. She represented the devoted

mother and wife. Her husband and brother, Osiris, ruled over vegetation and the

dead. Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, was god of the sky. He was called the lord of

heaven and was often pictured with the head of a falcon.

In each city and town, the people worshiped their own special deity as well as the

major ones. The people of Thebes worshiped Amun. Amun was later identified

with Re and called Amun-Re. In time, Amun-Re became the chief deity. Other

local deities and their main centers of worship included Ptah, the creator god of

Memphis; Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing in Hermopolis; and Khnum, the

creator god of Elephantine. Many deities were pictured with human bodies and

the heads of animals. Such a head suggested a real or imagined quality of the

animal and made identification of the deity easy.

Most ancient Egyptians prayed at home because the temples did not offer

regular services for people. Each temple was either regarded as the home of a

certain deity or dedicated to a dead king. A temple built in honor of Amun-Re at

Karnak was the country's largest temple. It had more than 130 columns that rose

about 80 feet (24 meters). Brilliantly colored paintings decorated the columns and

walls in the temple's Great Hall, which still ranks as the largest columned hall

ever built.

The priests' main job was to serve the deity or king, who was represented by a

statue in the temple. The king reigning at the time was considered the chief priest

of Egypt. Each day, he or other local priests washed and dressed the statue and

brought it food. Priests also offered prayers requested by individuals.

The afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed that they could enjoy life after death. This belief in an afterlife sometimes led to much preparation for death

and burial. It resulted, for example, in the construction of the pyramids and other

great tombs for kings and queens. Other Egyptians had smaller tombs.

Mummies discovered in Egyptian desert

The Egyptians believed that the bodies of the dead had to be preserved for the next life, and so they mummified (embalmed and dried) corpses to prevent

them from decaying. After a body was mummified, it was wrapped in layers of

linen strips and placed in a coffin. The mummy was then put in a tomb. Some

Egyptians mummified pets, including cats and monkeys. A number of Egyptian

mummies have lasted to the present day.

The Egyptians filled their tombs with items for use in the afterlife. These items

included clothing, wigs, food, cosmetics, and jewelry. The tombs of rich

Egyptians also had statues representing servants who would care for them in the

next world. Scenes of daily life were painted on walls inside the tombs. The

Egyptians believed that certain prayers said by priests would bring the scenes,

as well as the dead, to life.

Many Egyptians bought texts containing prayers, hymns, spells, and other

information to guide souls through the afterlife, protect them from evil, and

provide for their needs. Egyptians had passages from such texts carved or

written on walls inside their tombs or had a copy of a text placed in their tombs.

Collections of these texts are known as the Book of the Dead.

Work of the peopleMost of the workers in the fertile Nile Valley were farm laborers. Great harvests

year after year helped make Egypt rich. Many other people made their living in

manufacturing, mining, transportation, or trade.

The Egyptians did not use money. Instead, they traded goods or services directly for other goods or services. Under this barter system, workers were often paid in

wheat and barley. They used any extra quantities they got to trade for needed

goods.

Agriculture. Most farm laborers worked on the large estates of the royal family,

the temples, or other wealthy landowners. They received small amounts of crops

as pay, partly because landowners had to turn over a large percentage of all farm

production in taxes. Some farmers were able to rent fields from rich landowners.

Ancient Egypt was a hot country in which almost no rain fell. But farmers grew

crops most of the year by irrigating their land. They built canals that carried water

from the Nile to their fields. Farmers used wooden plows pulled by oxen to

prepare the fields for planting.

Wheat and barley were the main crops of ancient Egypt. Other crops included

lettuce, beans, onions, figs, dates, grapes, melons, and cucumbers. Parts of the

date and grape crops were crushed to make wine. Many farmers grew flax, which

was used to make linen. The Egyptians raised dairy and beef cattle, goats,

ducks, sheep, geese, and donkeys. Some people kept bees for honey.

Manufacturing and mining. Craftsmen who operated small shops made most of

the manufactured goods in ancient Egypt. The production of linen clothing and

linen textiles ranked among the chief industries. Other important products

included pottery, bricks, tools, glass, weapons, furniture, jewelry, and perfume.

The Egyptians also made many products from plants, including rope, baskets,

mats, and sheets of writing material.

Ancient Egypt had rich supplies of minerals. Miners produced large quantities of

limestone, sandstone, and granite for the construction of pyramids and

monuments. They also mined copper, gold, and such semiprecious gems as

turquoise, amethyst, and malachite. Much of Egypt’s gold came from the hills

east of the Nile and from Nubia, a country south of Egypt.

Trade and transportation. Ancient Egyptian traders sailed to lands bordering

the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Red seas. They acquired silver, horses, and

cedar logs from Syria, Lebanon, and other areas of southwestern Asia. They got

ivory, leopard skins, gold, cattle, and spices from Nubia. For these goods, the

Egyptians bartered gold, other minerals, wheat, barley, papyrus sheets, and

wine.

Transportation within ancient Egypt was chiefly by boats and barges on the Nile

River. The earliest Egyptian boats were made of papyrus reeds. Moved by poles

at first, they later were powered by rowers with oars. By about 3200 B.C., the

Egyptians had invented sails and begun to rely on the wind for power. About

3000 B.C., they started to use wooden planks to build ships.

During ancient Egypt's early history, most people walked or rode donkeys when

they traveled by land. Wealthy Egyptians were carried on special chairs. During

the 1600's B.C., the Egyptians began to ride in horse-drawn chariots.

Crafts and professions. The royal family and the temples of ancient Egypt

employed many skilled architects, engineers, carpenters, artists, and sculptors.

They also hired bakers, butchers, teachers, scribes, accountants, musicians,

butlers, and shoemakers. The Egyptians' belief that their bodies had to be

preserved for the afterlife made embalming a highly skilled profession. Many

Egyptians served in the army and navy. Others worked on cargo ships or fishing

boats.

First pyramid in ancient Egypt

Pyramids of Giza in Egypt

Arts and sciencesArchitecture. Ancient Egypt's pyramids are the oldest and largest stone

structures in the world. The ruins of about 90 pyramids still stand along the Nile.

Three huge pyramids at Giza rank as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient

World, a list of sights compiled by ancient travelers. The first Egyptian pyramids

were built about 4,500 years ago. The largest one, the Great Pyramid at Giza,

stands about 450 feet (140 meters) high. Its base covers about 13 acres (5

hectares). This pyramid was built with more than 2 million limestone blocks, each

weighing an average of 2 1/2 tons (2.3 metric tons).

The ancient Egyptians also built temples of limestone. They designed parts of the

temples to resemble plants. For example, some temples had columns carved to

look like palm trees or papyrus reeds. The temples had three main sections—a

small shrine, a large hall with many columns, and an open courtyard.

Painting and sculpture. Many of ancient Egypt's finest paintings and other

works of art were produced for tombs and temples. Artists covered the walls of

tombs with bright, imaginative scenes of daily life and pictorial guides to the

afterlife. The tomb paintings were not simply decorations. They reflected the

Egyptians' belief that the scenes could come to life in the next world. The tomb

owners therefore had themselves pictured not only as young and attractive but

also in highly pleasant settings that they wished to enjoy in the afterlife.

Great Sphinx

Ancient Egyptian sculptors decorated temples with carvings showing festivals,

military victories, and other important events. Sculptors also carved large stone

sphinxes. These statues were supposed to represent Egyptian kings or gods and

were used to guard temples and tombs. The Great Sphinx, for example, is

believed to represent either King Khafre or the god Re-Harakhte. This

magnificent statue has a human head and the body of a lion. It is 240 feet (73

meters) long and about 66 feet (20 meters) high. The Great Sphinx, which is near

the Great Pyramid at Giza, was carved about 4,500 years ago. Sculptors also

created small figures from wood, ivory, alabaster, bronze, gold, and turquoise.

Favorite subjects for small sculptures included cats, which the Egyptians

considered sacred and valued for protecting their grain supplies from mice.

Music and literature. The ancient Egyptians enjoyed music and singing. They

used harps, lutes, and other string instruments to accompany their singing.

Egyptian love songs were poetic and passionate.

Writers created many stories that featured imaginary characters, settings, or

events and were clearly meant to entertain. Other writings included essays on

good living called "Instructions."

Sciences. The ancient Egyptians made observations in the fields of astronomy

and geography that helped them develop a calendar of 365 days a year. The

calendar was based on the annual flooding of the Nile. The flooding began soon

after the star Sirius reappeared on the eastern horizon after months of being

hidden. This reappearance occurred about June 20 each year. The calendar

enabled the Egyptians to date much of their history. Dated materials from ancient

Egypt have helped scholars date events in other parts of the ancient world.

The ancient Egyptians could measure areas, volumes, distances, lengths, and

weights. They used geometry to determine farm borders. Mathematics was

based on a system of counting by tens, but the system had no zeros.

Ancient Egyptian doctors were the first physicians to study the human body

scientifically. They studied human anatomy and knew that the pulse was in some

way connected with the heart. They could set broken bones, care for wounds,

and treat many illnesses. Some doctors specialized in a particular field of

medicine, such as eye defects or stomach disorders.

GovernmentKings ruled ancient Egypt throughout most of its history. Sometime between 1554 and 1304 B.C., the people began to call the king pharaoh. The

wordpharaoh comes from words that meant great house in Egyptian. The

Egyptians believed that each of their kings was the god Horus in human form.

This belief helped strengthen the authority of the kings.

The position of king was inherited. It passed to the eldest son of the king's chief wife. Many Egyptian kings had several other wives, called lesser wives, at the

same time. Some chief wives gave birth to daughters but no sons, and several of

those daughters claimed the right to the throne. At least four women became

rulers.Officials called viziers helped the king govern ancient Egypt. By the 1400's B.C.,

the king appointed two of them. One vizier administered the Nile Delta area, and

the other one managed the region to the south. The viziers acted as mayors, tax

collectors, and judges, and some even controlled temple treasuries. Other high

officials included a treasurer and army commander. The government collected

taxes from farmers in the form of crops. Skilled workers paid taxes in the goods

or services they produced. The treasuries of kings and temples were thus

actually warehouses consisting largely of crops and various manufactured goods. The government also levied a corvee (tax paid in the form of labor) to obtain

troops and government workers.

For purposes of local government, ancient Egypt was divided into 42 provinces called nomes. The king appointed an official known as a nomarch to govern

each province. There were courts in each nome and a high court in the capital.

Viziers judged most cases. Kings decided cases involving crimes punishable by

death.

In its early days, ancient Egypt had a small army of foot soldiers equipped with

spears. During the 1500's B.C., Egypt built up a large army. The army included

archers who were trained to shoot accurately while riding in fast-moving, horse-

drawn chariots. Egypt had a large navy of long ships. These ships were powered

chiefly by oarsmen, though most vessels also had sails.

Important dates in ancient Egypt's history

Ancient Egypt: Three periods

HistoryBeginnings. The earliest known communities in ancient Egypt were villages

established over 5,000 years ago. In time, the villages became part of two

kingdoms. One of these kingdoms controlled the villages that lay on the Nile

Delta, and the other controlled the villages south of the delta. The delta area was

known as Lower Egypt. The southern region was called Upper Egypt.

Egyptian civilization began about 3100 B.C. According to tradition, King Menes of

Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt around that time. He then united the

country and formed the world's first national government. Menes founded

Memphis as his capital near the site of present-day Cairo. He also established the first of 30 Egyptian dynasties (series of rulers in the same family).

The early dynastic period of ancient Egyptian history covered Dynasties I and

II, which ruled for about 300 years. During this period, the kings built a temple to

Ptah, the chief god of Memphis, and erected several palaces near the temple.

The Egyptians also developed irrigation systems, invented ox-drawn plows, and

started to develop a bureaucracy during the first two dynasties.

The Old Kingdom, which lasted from about 2650 to 2150 B.C., included

Dynasties III through VIII. By the time Dynasty III began, Egypt had a strong

central government. The Old Kingdom became known for the construction of

Egypt's giant pyramids. This period is sometimes called the Pyramid Age.

The first known Egyptian pyramid was built for King Zoser at Saqqarah about

2650 B.C. The tomb rises about 200 feet (60 meters) in six giant steps and is

called the Step Pyramid. During Dynasty IV, workers built the Great Pyramid and

other pyramids at Giza. The Great Pyramid was built for King Khufu. Huge

pyramids were built nearby for his son, King Khafre, and for King Menkaure.

Farm laborers worked on the pyramids when floodwaters of the Nile covered

their fields.

By Dynasty VI, the king's authority had begun to weaken as high priests and

government officials fought for power. Dynasties VII through XI had weak rulers.

Dynasties IX and X and the first half of Dynasty XI ruled during what is known as the first intermediate period. The capital was finally moved to Thebes.

The Middle Kingdom was the period that began in the last half of Dynasty XI

and continued through Dynasty XIII or XIV. The Middle Kingdom began in the

early 1900's B.C., when Mentuhotep II unified Egypt. Amenemhet I, a vizier in

southern Egypt, began Dynasty XII around 1938 B.C., when he seized the throne

and moved the capital to Itjtawy, near Memphis. Amenemhet and his strong

successors, including Senusret I, Senusret III, and Amenemhet III, helped restore

Egypt's wealth and power. During Dynasty XII, Egypt conquered Nubia and

promoted trade with Palestine and Syria in southwestern Asia. The arts

flourished under this dynasty.

Weak kings ruled Egypt toward the end of Dynasty XII. Settlers from Asia

gradually invaded the Nile Delta, using horse-drawn chariots, improved bows,

and other tools of war unknown to the native Egyptians. The invaders, called the

Hyksos, seized control of Egypt about 1630 B.C., and their leaders founded

Dynasty XV. The Middle Kingdom ended in the mid-1600’s, but the Hyksos

continued to dominate Egypt until 1520 B.C.

King Thutmose III

The New Kingdom was a period of nearly 500 years in which ancient Egypt

became the world's strongest power. The period began around 1539 B.C., with

Dynasty XVIII. During this dynasty, native Egyptians drove the Hyksos forces out

of Egypt, and Thebes regained its importance. Amun, a god worshiped mainly in

Thebes, was increasingly identified with the god Re and called Amun-Re.

At the beginning of Dynasty XVIII, Egypt developed a permanent army that used

horse-drawn chariots and other advanced military techniques introduced during

the Hyksos period. The dynasty's early rulers led military forces into

southwestern Asia. Thutmose I apparently reached the Euphrates River. Queen

Hatshepsut, his daughter, also led armies in battle. Egypt developed a great

empire and reached the height of its power during the 1400's B.C., under King

Thutmose III. He led military campaigns into Asia almost yearly for 20 years and

brought the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea into the Egyptian empire.

Thutmose also reestablished Egyptian control over Kush and surrounding Nubia,

which were valuable sources of slaves, copper, gold, ivory, and ebony. As a

result of these victories, Egypt became the strongest and wealthiest nation in the

world.

The course of Egyptian history changed unexpectedly after Amenhotep IV came

to the throne around 1353 B.C. He devoted himself to a sun god called the Aten,

represented as the disk of the sun. Amenhotep changed his own name to

Akhenaten and declared that the Aten had replaced Amun and all other gods

except Re. He believed that Re was part of the sunlight that came from the Aten.

The king also moved the capital to a new city, Akhetaten, about 175 miles (280

kilometers) north of Thebes. Ruins of the city lie near what is now Tell el Amarna.

Akhenaten's religious reforms, known as the Amarna Revolution, led to an

outpouring of art and sculpture that glorified the Aten. But the changes angered

many Egyptians.

Akhenaten's immediate successors ended the unrest. King Tutankhaten removed -aten from his name and became Tutankhamun. He restored the old

state religion, allowing the worship of the old deities as well as the Aten.

Horemheb, the last Dynasty XVIII king, completely rejected Akhenaten's religious

beliefs. Dynasty XIX kings built temples to many gods throughout Egypt. Two of

the kings, Seti I and his son, Ramses II, regained Asian territories lost after the

reign of Thutmose III.

Ancient Egypt began to decline during Dynasty XX. Bitter struggles for power by

priests and nobles broke the country into small states. Egypt lost its territories

abroad, and its weakness attracted a series of invaders.

The periods of foreign control. Ancient Egypt's decline accelerated rapidly

after about 1075 B.C., when Dynasty XX ended. During the next 750 years, 10

dynasties ruled Egypt. Most of them were formed by Nubian, Assyrian, and

Persian rulers. In 332 B.C., the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great

added Egypt to his empire. In 331, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria in

the delta.

Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt

The Ptolemies. Alexander died in 323 B.C., and his generals divided his empire.

Ptolemy, one of the generals, gained control of Egypt. About 305 B.C., he took

the title of king and founded a dynasty known as the Ptolemaic dynasty. The

dynasty's rulers spread Greek culture in Egypt. They also built temples to

Egyptian gods, developed Egypt's natural resources, and increased foreign

trade. Alexandria became Egypt's capital, and its magnificent library and

museum helped make the city one of the greatest cultural centers of ancient

times.

Cleopatra

Roman rule. Queen Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemies probably married Mark

Antony, a co-ruler of Rome, in 37 B.C. Antony and his rival co-ruler, Octavian,

each wanted to rule the vast Roman lands by himself. In 32 B.C., Antony

combined his and Cleopatra's military forces to fight forces led by Octavian. The

navy of Antony and Cleopatra lost the vital Battle of Actium to Octavian's fleet in

31 B.C. The couple committed suicide in 30 B.C., and Octavian then made Egypt

a Roman province. Rome's control of Egypt gradually weakened after A.D. 395,

when the Roman Empire split into eastern and western parts. By A.D. 642, Arab

Muslims had conquered Egypt.

Learning about ancient EgyptThe study of ancient Egypt is called  Egyptology. Experts in the field are Egyptologists. Much of their knowledge comes from studying the architecture

and other parts of ancient Egypt. Ruins of magnificent temples stand at Abydos,

Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, Luxor, and Karnak. Excavations of pharaohs' tombs,

such as those in a burial ground called the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, have

yielded superb paintings. Tutankhamun's tomb was filled with stunning examples

of the ancient Egyptians' skill in woodworking and metalworking.

Information about ancient Egypt also comes from written records made by the

Egyptians themselves and by such ancient Greek writers as Herodotus and

Strabo. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics until sometime after they came under

Roman rule. The ability of anyone to read Egyptian hieroglyphics was then

quickly lost.

For over 1,000 years, scholars tried but failed to decipher the writing system of

ancient Egypt. Then, in 1799, a rock slab with ancient Greek and Egyptian writing

was found outside Rosetta, a city near Alexandria. A French scholar named

Jean-François Champollion began to compare the Greek and Egyptian words on

the so-called Rosetta stone. By 1822, he had deciphered the hieroglyphics.

Dictionaries developed since then have helped scholars translate the writings on

many monuments and in temples and tombs.