This document provides a timeline for ancient Egyptian history from the Predynastic period through the Late Egyptian period, along with brief descriptions of some key events, rulers, sites, and artifacts from each period. It highlights the unification of Egypt in the Early Dynastic period, the construction of pyramids and other monumental architecture in the Old Kingdom, the flourishing of arts in the Middle Kingdom, expansion of the empire and building of great temples in the New Kingdom, and mummification practices in the Late Egyptian period.

2. ANCIENT EGYPT – TIME SEQUENCE
Predynastic – 5000-2950 BCE
Early Dynastic - 2950-2575 BCE
Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
New Kingdom - 1630-1520 BCE
Late Egyptian - 715-332 BCE

3. Predynastic – 5000-2950 BCE
• Ceramic figurines
• Decorated pottery
• Ivory carved in relief
• Stone plaques carved in relief
• Wall paintings (found in mud brick houses at
Hierakonpolis)

4. DYNASTIES AND MANETHO’S LIST
• Chronological list of rulers compiled by
Manetho, Egyptian priest/historian in 3rd
century BCE
• 30 dynasties confirmed by temple
records, from 3000 to 332 BCE (when
Alexander the Great conquered.)

5. RELIGION IN EGYPT - POLYTHEISTIC
Ra (Ra-Atum) = sun god
Tefnut & Shu = gods of wetness and dryness
Geb (earth) and Nut (sky)
Osiris (king) married sister, Isis; killed by
brother, Seth. Nepthys & Isis pieced Osiris
back together with Anubis’ (jackal) help. Isis
birthed Horus (king of the earth; falcon-
headed; defeated Seth) and Osiris became
king of the dead.
• Kings=divine
• Ensure gods’ favor
• Ordered cosmos/ Afterlife

6. Early Dynastic - 2950-2575 BCE
Narmer Palette, 2950-2775 BCE. Green
schist, height 25”.

7. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Canon of Proportions – male body
18 units
1 unit =width of fist
Grid
Twisted perspective
Groundlines

8. Early Dynastic
From “mastaba” to “pyramid”

9. Early Dynastic
Stepped Pyramid of Djoser (2630-2575 BCE) ,
204’ high

10. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Great Pyramids at Giza (2575-2450 BCE)
http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Egypt-Cairo-P
Yramids
Giza Plateau follows the sun’s east-west course.

11. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE

12. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Khufu: oldest/largest pyramid (13 acre base!), 481’ high
2.3 million
Blocks of
Stone…2.5 tons
each block!

13. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Khafre - Great Sphinx, 65’

14. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
SCULPTURE
• Block-like/solid/compact
• Diorite
Khafre, in the Valley
Temple of Khafre at
Giza. (Ruled 2520-
2494 BCE).

15. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Menkaure and a Queen, Giza (ruled 2490-2472 BCE)

16. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Seated Scribe, 2450-2325 BCE
Writing:
• Hieroglyphic
• Hieratic -simplified
• Demotic – 8th century BCE
• Religious: hieratic
• Monuments: hieroglyph
• All else: demotic
• Coptic (Greeks 332 BCE)
• Rosetta Stone 196
BCE, discovered in 1818

17. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150 BCE
Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt, Tomb of
Ti, Saqqara. 2450-2325 BCE. 45”

18. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
Head of Senusret III, Twelfth
Dynasty (2938-1755 BCE).
• 150 years of unrest until
11th dynasty (3 successive
kings named Mentuhotep);
reunited.
• Powerful, unified
government
• Arts flourished
• Military expansion
• Rock-cut tombs
(solid/painted)
• Faience (glass paste; glossy
finish)

19. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
Beni Hasan, 1938-
1755 BCE, Twelfth
Dynasty.

20. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
• Well-observed accurate detail
• Faience: glass paste fired to produce shiny, smooth, opaque finish
• Glass: sand +lime + sodium carbonate (or sodium sulfate), fired
Hippopotamus, Tomb of Senbi (Tomb B.3), Meir.
Twelfth Dynasty, 1938-1755 BCE. Faience, 20
cm long. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

21. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
Stele of Amenemhat I, Assasif. Twelfth Dynasty, 1938-1755 BCE. Painted Limestone.

22. New Kingdom - 1539-1075 BCE
• Hyksos invasion; 18th Dynasty regains control
• Thutmose III - 1479-1425 BCE, 18th dynasty, (first to
use the term “pharoah”, which means “great house.” )
• 15 military campaigns/diplomacy
• Great Temple Complexes along Nile River
• Pylon – tapered wall gateway
• Hypostyle hall – vast hall with columns
• Peristyle court – courtyard surrounded by columns

24. GREAT TEMPLE OF AMUN AT KARNAK

25. HYPOSTYLE HALL – GREAT TEMPLE OF AMUN
AT KARNAK – 1290-1190 BCE

26. FUNERARY TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT – 1473-
1458 BCE

27. HATSHEPSUT ENTHRONED, 18TH DYNASTY
-Queen Ahmose and god Amun
-Regent for Thutmose III; kept him from rule for 20 years
-Funerary Temple at Deir el-Bahri – buried in Valley of kings, though,
Northwest half a mile…

28. AKENHATEN, COLOSSAL FIGURE
• 1353 BCE – ascended the throne (18th
Dynasty)
• 17 year reign
• NEW RELIGION – honoring the sun-god, Aten
• “maat” divine truth
“One who is effective on behalf of Aten” - 1348
BCE
• New capital : not Thebes, but Akhetaten (Tell
el-Amarna)
• AMARNA PERIOD ART: glassmaking,
sculpture, etc.

29. NEFERTITI – 1353-1336 BCE

30. AKHENATEN AND HIS FAMILY – 1353-1336 BCE

31. QUEEN TIY (AKHENATEN’S MOTHER) – 1342 BCE

32. TUTANKHAMUN’S SARCOPHAGUS – 1332-1322
BCE

33. TEMPLE OF RAMESES II AT ABU SIMBEL –
1279-1213 BCE

34. Late Egyptian - 715-332
BCE
Mummy Wrapping of a Young Boy, 100-120 CE : linen wrappings with giled stucco
buttons and inserted portrait in encaustic on wood. 53 3/8”

36. MUMMIFICATION
http://youtu.be/-MQ5dL9cQX0