Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom

5000–2150 B.C.E.

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“Dynastic” Egypt—sometimes referred to as “Pharaonic”—was the time when the country was largely unified under a single ruler, starting around 3100 B.C.E. The period before this, lasting from about 5000 B.C.E. until unification, is referred to as Predynastic by modern scholars.

Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period

c. 2030–1650 B.C.E.

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Looking back to the traditions of the Old Kingdom, artists of the Middle and New Kingdoms produced magnificent monuments that still inspire awe today.

New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period

c. 1550–1070 B.C.E.

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New Kingdom pharaohs controlled vast wealth. Thebes was the religious center of the period, and Pharaohs built mortuary temples here and were buried in huge rock-cut tombs.

Late, Ptolemaic, and Roman Periods

c. 713 B.C.E.–395 C.E.

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After the Late Period, Egypt fell under the rule of the Ptolemies and later, the Romans.

Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush

c. 2500 B.C.E.–350 C.E.

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