Egypt
c.10,000 SEBILIAN Culture ends, began 13,000.  Gathered WHEAT V & BARLEY; but had no domesticated seeds. 10,000 wikPE, wikSbl
c.10,000 LATE PALEOLITHIC Period ends, in Egypt from 30,000.
MESOLITHIC (Epipaleolithic) Period 1 begins until 7000.  A transition from hunter-gatherers to true farming.  Main site: Elkab.
10,000 Shaw, tregE
c.9300 The Western Desert, abandoned from the Middle Paleolithic, is repopulated because of the Holocene wet phase. 9300 Shaw 27
c. 9000 FAYUM-A Period begins until 6000.  Earliest fully Neolithic Culture in the Nile Valley.  People live around a large lake and subsist on agriculture, hunting, and fishing.  People use sickle flints set in wooden handles, large thick flaked tools, winged arrowheads and leaf-shaped pieces.  Pottery is crude open pots made with chaff tempered clay, but there is evidence of linen woven from flax and imported beads and shells used as adornments.  Burials are in or near settlements.  Never developed permanent agricultural villages.
Weaving: see Peru 9600, Anatolia 7000
9000 wikPE, wohiPPE
c.9000 QadanQADAN Culture ends, 20 sites in Upper Egypt from 13,000.  Economy based on fishing, hunting/gathering.  Planted grains but not in ordered rows.  First to develop SICKLES and GRINDING STONES.  Weapons include spears and darts (or arrows).  Practiced ritual burial.  Replaced by hunter/gatherers. map: Mark Dingemanse

10,000 IDBS 678, wohiPPE, 9000 wikPE, wikQd
c.8800 HARIFIAN Culture begins in Sinai and Negev until 8000.  Semi-subterranean houses, often more elaborate than Natufian.  1st triangular stone arrowheads.  Merges with Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. 8800 wikPE 88-8500 wikHrf
c.8500 HOLOCENE WET PERIOD begins until 3000. 8500 wikBK
c.8000 HARIFIAN Culture ends, in Sinai and Negev Desert from 8650.  People live in subterranean houses. 82-8000 wikHrf 8000 wikPE
by 8000 FARMING is entrenched on the banks of the Nile. by 8000 wikHAg
c.7500 CATS V, domesticated in the fertile crescent from 9000, now domesticated in Egypt. 7500 wikTop, 7000 Shaw 29 4000 barc
c.7000 MESOLITHIC (Epipaleolithic) Period ends, in Egypt from 10,000.
NEOLITHIC Period begins until 4700.
EARLY NEOLITHIC Period begins until 6800.
8800 Shaw 28 7000 Shaw, 5500 tregE
c.7000 agricultureAGRICULTURE spreads from the Fertile Crescent to the Nile. timelapse: Wikirictor 5000 TWAH 16
c.7000 SangaSanga CATTLE (Bos taurus africanus) domesticated in NE Africa.  Major subgroups: African taurine, Watusi, Zanga. photo: Bohringer Friedrich

7000 wikHAg
c.7000 Humans in the Nile Valley unevidenced until 5400. 7000 Shaw 33
c.6800 EARLY NEOLITHIC period ends, in Egypt from 7000MIDDLE NEOLITHIC period begins until 5100. 6800 Shaw 28
c.6100 A sudden global temperature decrease, probably caused by the final collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, leads to drier conditions in east Africa and Mesopotamia. 62-6000 wikTop
c.6000 FAYUM-A Period ends, in the Nile Valley from 9000.  People live around a large lake and subsist on agriculture, hunting, and fishing. 6000 wikPE, wohiPPE
c.6000 IRRIGATION V discovered in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia. 6000 Copilot
c.6000 CIRCUMCISION V evidenced in Egypt, based on evidence from mummies and pictures on walls. 6000 wikCcA, wikHCc
c.6000 SHEEP, domesticated in Levant from 7700, brought to Egypt, soon spread west to Sahara.. 6000 PW 13 55-5000 Copilot 5500 bk
c.6000 Λ WHEAT, cultivated in Levant from 9600, Africa from 9000, first cultivated in Egypt. 6000 PW 13 6000-3150 Copilot 5500 bk
c.6000 BARLEY cultivated in Egypt. 6000 PW 13, bk
c.5900 Domestic GOATS, in Levant by at least 7450, evidenced in both deserts, but absent in the Nile Valley until c.5400.   Africa 5000 5900 Shaw 36 5500 bk
by 5500 Small tribes in the Nile valley had developed into a series of cultures having agriculture and animal husbandry, and identifiable by their pottery, combs, bracelets, and beads.  The largest in upper Egypt is the BADARIAN V culture, which probably originated in the western desert. by 5500 wikAE
c.5500 Mesolithic FAYUM-B Period begins in Egypt until 5000.  It has small tools (microliths): knives and scrapers, but no pottery.  People live from fishing, hunting, and gathering.   6000 usf, uclF, 5500 aroLEN 5200 anir
c.5400 People still hunt, but start relying heavily on livestock imported from the Levant, mainly goats. 5400 Shaw 31
c.5400 Humans, apparently absent from the Nile Valley from 7000, again inhabit it. 5400 Shaw 33
c.5300 Chalcolithic PREDYNASTIC Period begins in Lower Egypt until 3000.   NEOLITHIC Period begins until 4000. 6000 wikPE, wohiPPE
5300 RAI3, Shaw   5000 ISBE 1-251, 2-36   4000 ISBE 1-248
c.5200 Earliest evidence of an agricultural settlement in Egypt.  It has remains of domesticated wheat. 5200 Copilot
c.5100 MIDDLE NEOLITHIC period ends, in Egypt from 6800LATE NEOLITHIC period begins until 4700. 5100 wikBK
c.5000 Mesolithic FAYUM-B Period from 5500, ends. 5000 usf, uclF
c.5000 POTTERY first evidenced in Egypt.   See China 9000, Mesopotamia 7000, Levant 6900, 5000 Copilot 4000 Copilot
c.5000 2-man wooden PLOW, invented in Mesopotamia 6000, used in Egypt, one man ahead pulling on a rope, the other pressing down the point. 7000 mxfld
c.5000 Population of the lower Nile is probably less than 20,000.  The climate is cold and damp, the people wear long skirts made of linen or skins with the fur inward.  They live in tents or perishable wall homes.  Hippopotami and crocodiles exist, and at el Badari there are bodies of dogs, sheep and oxen wrapped in matting or linen. 5000 mxfld
c.5000 BALANCE SCALE V, invented in Egypt. 5000 Copilot
c.5000 Dikes and canals built along Nile in Egypt. 5000 TTPC, bk
c. 5000 MERIMDE V Culture begins in west Delta until 4300.
Connected to Fayum A culture and the Levant.  Shows 5 levels of occupation.  Mainly agricultural with cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, and some fishing & hunting.  Wheat, sorghum and barley are planted.  1st level has small round or elliptical huts made of wattle and reed.  Stone tools.  Simple untempered, but sometimes polished, ceramics often decorated with a herringbone pattern.  maskDead are buried within the settlement in a flexed position in oval pits without grave goods or offerings.   First life-sized Egyptian clay head, shown here, comes from Merimde, and is designed to be mounted on a staff.  Hair or feathers may have been inserted in the holes to make a beard.
5000 Shaw 34, wikAAE, wikPE, wohiPPE, 4800 wikAEA, wikMr 48-4750 aroLEN


photo: kairoinfo4u
c.5000 WEAVING is 1st evidenced in Egypt in the Fayum.  5500 Copilot 5000 wikWv
c.4700 Late NEOLITHIC period ends, in Egypt from 5100. 4700 Shaw, wikBK
c.4650 DONKEY, domesticated in East Africa from 7000, domesticated in Egypt, evidenced at El Omari.   Levant 3500 48-4500 wikAEA 4000 wikPE, wohiPPE
c.4600 EL-OMARI culture begins in Lower Egypt until 4350.  Subsistence on agriculture and animal husbandry: goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, plus much fishing and some hunting.  Pottery is simple in shape, often with red coating, often polished.  No metal.  All graves are pit burials, bodies flexed on left side. 4600 Shaw 36, aroLEN 4000 wikPE, wohiPPE
c.4500 TASIAN Culture begins in Upper Egypt until 4000.  Main site Deir Tasa, contains earliest blacktop-pottery, red and brown pottery that is black on top and interior.  The difference between Tasian and Badari is that Badari sites are Chalcolithic while Tasian sites remain Neolithic. 4500 wikHAE, wikTs
by 4500 Lower Egypt has domestic grazing animals from the Levant. by 4500 mxfld
c.4500 Λ MERIMDE Culture last phase begins until 4300.  Houses are large, well built ovals, densely packed along narrow streets.  Houses had their own granaries, sunken water jars, hearths and grinding stones, indicating that each family was an independent economic unit.  Ceramics are closed shapes and polished.  First dark red or black wares are created, some with impressed or engraved decoration.  Only adults are given proper burial; children are thrown in trash pits.  No grave goods except a few mussel shells. no date: aroLEN, wikPE  
c.4500 MAADI site in Lower Egypt is occupied until 4000.  It shows domesticated donkeys.  4500 wikAEA  
c. 4400 Λ BADARIAN Period, possibly beginning 5000, is evidenced in Upper Egypt until 4000.  Earliest agriculture in Upper Egypt.  No remains of dwellings have been found, only storage pits and post holes.  Pottery made from red Nile clay, often with a black interior and rim and a decorative ripple on the surface created by combing and polishing.  They farmed emmer wheat, barley, lentil, and flax and kept sheep, goats, and cattle.  They fished, but didn't hunt.  Artifacts include high-quality ceramics, bone & stone tools, ornaments, copper, cereals, and wooden objects, plus trade goods from the Red Sea and Levant.  Dead, including some domesticated animals, are buried in small cemeteries outside of settlements.  Pits are oval or rectangular.  The body is in contracted position on left side, facing west with the head to the south.  A reed mat or hide is often placed over the body. 5500 DMoN 4500 mxfld, wohiPPE, 4400 Shaw 36, aeoUEN, wikPE

    Badarian art, 4400-4000 BCE:

mort figs
Rama, Nic McPhee
3452
String of beads
Rogers Fund
3453
Hippo vase
akhenatenator
3454
Burial urn
akhenatenator
by 4400 HIERACONOPOLIS "Falcon city" founded by fans of falcon god Horus.  by 4400 wikNkn
c.4400 Finely woven LINEN evidenced in Egypt 4400 wikPE
c.4400 Oldest-known domestic CATTLE in Africa are in Fayum. 4400 wikHAE
c.4350 EL-OMARI culture ends, in Lower Egypt from 4600 4350 aroLEN 3100 wikPE
c.4300 MERIMDE Culture ends, in west Delta from 5000, in last phase from 4500. 4300 wikAEA, wikMr
4300-4250 aroLEN     4200 wikAAE, wikPE     4100 Shaw 34 4000 wohiPPE     3100 wikPE
c.4000 Tas BeakerTasian beaker, found in a Badarian grave at Qau; tomb 569. photo: Hyspaosines

4000 wikPE
c.4000 TASIAN Culture endsn in Upper Egypt from 4500.  Main site Deir Tasa. 4000 copilot
c.4000 MAADI site from 4500 ends.
MAADI Culture begins in Lower Egypt until 3500.
Maadi, near Cairo, is built over the original Naqada stronghold.  Develops architecture and technology, but still has hand made, undecorated ceramics, including black-topped red pots, indicating contact with Naqada sites in the south, and imported vessels from the Levant.  Copper adzes have been found.  Dead are buried in cemeteries, but with few grave goods.
4000 wikAEA, wikPE
c.4000 BADARIAN Period ends, in Upper Egypt from 4400. 4000 Shaw 36, wikPE 3800 DMoN
c.4000 SAIL first used on BOATSΛ  in Egypt. 4000 PW 13 3500 mxfld
c.4000 CEMETERIES become more widely used. 4000 wikAEM
c.4000 Instances of worn TEETH begin to diminish until 1000 CE, probably due to improved grain grinding. 4000 wohiPPE
c. 4000 NEOLITHIC Period ends.  In Egypt from 5300.
NAQADA CULTURE begins in Upper Egypt until 3000.
It is divided into Nq1 Amratian, Nq2 Gerzean, Nq3 Protodynastic Period.
NAQADA-I (Amratian) Culture begins at El Amra until 3500.  Mud-bricks begin to replace reeds as building material.  Black-topped and painted pottery continues, but white cross-line pottery, decorated with close parallel white lines crossed by another set of same, begins.  People own slaves, build Λ ROWBOATS V of bundled papyrus.  Shows increased trade between Upper and Lower Egypt.  Trade begins with Nubia, Western desert oases, and East Mediterranean, obsidian from Ethiopia, cedar from Byblos, marble from Paros, emery from Naxos.  Dead are buried with food, weaponry, statuettes, decorations, malachite, and occasionally dogs.
4400 wikNq 4000 GHAE, Shaw 44, wikAAE, wikNC, wikPE, wohiPPE, 3900 wikNC 3800 DMoN
c.4000 JEWELRY:  Earliest evidence of Egyptian beads (evidenced from the Mesolithic) usually made of stone, e.g. soapstone, covered with glaze. Other materials used include green feldspar, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, hematite, and amethyst. 4500 copilot 4000 copilot,

    Naqada-I art, 4000-3650 BCE

4 figs
Figurines of bone and ivory
akhenatenator
man
Figurine of bearded man
Rama
bowl
White cross-lined bowl
Rogers Fund
vase
Black topped vase
Keramion
c.3800 At HIERAKONOPOLIS, in Upper Egypt, was slight seasonal rainfall, wooded grasslands, fertile flood plains, and easy access to the Nile.  2 settlements with mud-brick and wattle-and-daub houses are spread over 100 acres and have perhaps 10,000 people. 3800 mxfld
c.3700 Λ 6 CATS - 2 adults and 4 kittens are next to a baboon and a dog skeletons.  Researchers propose that the cats buried together were domestic. 3700 barc
by 3600 Societies along the Nile had based their culture on crops and domestic animals.  Soon after 3600, society grows and advances rapidly toward refined civilization.  Pottery like that in south Levant appears.  Use of copper becomes common. by 3600 wikED
c.3500 RED CROWN (aka deshret) is first evidenced in the late Naqada I period.  The crown was likely worn in association with the god Seth.  It is not associated with all of Lower Egypt until the first dynasties c.3000.  In mythology, the deshret was first given to the god Horus by Geb to symbolize his rule over Lower Egypt.  The deshret is then passed on to kings, as successors to Horus. art: GFDL sa-2.5

3500 wikCoE
c. 3500 NAQADA-I (Amratian) Culture in Upper Egypt from 4000 ends.
NAQADA-II (Gerzean) culture starts in the delta and moves south until 3200.
Represented thruout Egypt.  Paintings indicate that hunting persists.  With increased food supplies, Egyptians become sedentary, and cities grow as large as 5,000.  Stone tools move from bifacial to ripple-flaked construction.  Copper is used for tools and weaponry.  1st tombs in classic Egyptian style are built, modeled after ordinary houses, sometimes with multiple rooms.  Foreign objects and art enter Egypt, indicating contact with Anatolia and Mesopotamia.  1st Marl pottery, and metalworking.  Pottery is more decorated than Amratian, and painted mostly dark red with pictures of animals, people, ships, and geometric symbols derived from animals.  Pictures of ceremonial reed Λ BOATS V appear on jars, showing 2 male and 2 female figures standing.  "Wavy" jar handles, rare before now, become more common and more elaborate until they are almost completely ornamental.
3650 wikNC 3500 DMoN, GHAE, Shaw 44, mxfld, wikGrz, wikPE, wohiPPE

    Naqada II art, c.3600-3200

3451
Figurine, thought to be a deity
Naqada II Gerzeh
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
35-3400 wikNC, wikGrz

3452
Comb with human image
Early Naqada II
Brooklyn Museum
35-3400 wikGrz
3453
Jar, Late Naqada II
Metropolitan Museum
35-3330 wikGrz, wikNC
3454
Pot with elephants on rim
from Naqada II
Didia
37-3200 wikAEA
c.3500 GERZEAN Culture coincides with decline in rainfall.  Farming along the Nile now produces most food.  3500 wikPE
c.3500 MAADI Culture ends, in Lower Egypt from 4000. 3500 wikPE
3300 wikHAE   3200 Shaw
c.3500 Large tombs built at Ombos. 3500 wikNq
c.3500 First ZOO V in the world is built by a pharaohs to keep exotic animals for public display.   See China 1975,. 3500 Copilot, wikNkn
c.3500 MUMMIFICATION 1st evidenced in Egypt. 3500 wikNq
c.3400 Gebelein pre-dynastic mummy, with Naqada II decorated jars found beside it. photo: Jack1956

3400 wikNC 33-3200 wikUkP
c.3400 HIERACONOPOLIS "Falcon city" founded 4400, peaks until ??.  Population 5-10,000. 3400 wikNkn
Tumulo art: Francesco Raffaele
c.3350 Gerzeh culture at el Gerzeh Painted Tomb (Tomb 100) at Nekhen (later Hierakonpolis) is cut into the ground, lined with adobe mud brick; its walls elaborately painted.  It represents the earliest example of painted walls known in Egypt, and an Egyptian tomb mural.  e.g. a mural with barques, staffs, goddesses, and animals painted on its plaster walls.  Likely the burial place of a proto-king, of unknown name. 3500 wikCom 35-3200 thot, wikGrz
c.3250 Egyptian Blue, or cuprorivaite (calcium copper silicate), a synthetic pigment containing copper starts being used in Egypt. 3250 wikCpr
c.3250 knifeGebel el-Arak Knife, Naqada II period from Abydos.  At the top of the handle is a Master of Beasts meme, showing influence of Mesopotamia during the Uruk period.Reverse side shows a possible illustration of conflict between Abydos and Hierakonpolis.  left: Einsamer Schütze
right: ALFGRN

33-3200 wikGrz, wikNC, wikNkn
c.3200 WHITE CROWN (aka Hedjet) of Upper Egypt is first evidenced in Ta-Seti (North Nubia).  What it is made of is debated: leather, fekt, some kind of woven fibers.  Images of it have been found in Ta-Seti, a tomb in Deir-el-Bahari, the Narmer Palette, and on a statue of Pharaoh Sesostris. art: kompak

35-3200 wikCoE 32-3100 wikHjt
c.3200 NAQADA-II (Gerzean) Period in Upper Egypt from 3500 ends.
NAQADA-III (Protodynastic) period begins until 3000.  More elaborate grave goods, cylindrical jars, 1st hieroglyphs V (disputed), 1st regular use of serekhs (rectangular enclosures mounted by a Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name), Practiced IRRIGATION, 1st kings & royal cemeteries.  After 3200, Lower and Upper Egypt chronology is the same.
3400 wikSrk
3300 GHAE, wikNC
3200 DMoN, Shaw 44, wikGrz, wikHAE, wikNC wikNq3, wikPE, wohiPPE, 3100 mxfld
c.3200 Dynasty ZERO begins in Egypt until 3100.
It includes: Scorpion-I, Iry-Hor, Ka, King Scorpion, and maybe Sekhem, Crocodile, Narmer.
3250 pic, 3200 wikP, 3150 Murn 3100 wikHAE
c.3200 India trades lapis lazuli to Mesopotamia and Egypt. 3200 wikIMR
c.3200 4 dogsCosmetic PALETTES such as this "Four dogs Palette" were originally used in predynastic Egypt to grind and apply ingredients for cosmetics.  Decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium appear to have lost this function to become commemorative, ornamental, and possibly ceremonial.  Almost all are made of siltstone. photo: Rama

33-3100 wikNq3 no date: wikCPal
c.3150 Naqada III hair comb decorated with rows of wild animals.  The teeth, now broken off, were at the bottom. photo: Metropolitan Museum

32-3100 wikNq3
c.3100 Dynasty ZERO, in Egypt from 3200, ends.
It included: Scorpion-I, Iry-Hor, Ka, King Scorpion, and maybe Sekhem, Crocodile, Narmer.
3050 Morn, pic 3100 wikP,
c.3100 palettesNaqada III has many notable decorative cosmetic palettes of this time period:
left: Hunters Palette
middle: Bull palette
right Battlefield Palette.
left: GFDL
middle: Rama
right: Joyofmuseums

3100 wikNq3
c.3100 Pottery bears paintings of sickle-shaped sailing Λ BOATS V, apparently built with reeds and complete with cabins and centerboards. 3100 mxfld
c. 3100 maceheadSCORPION MACE HEAD, a 25cm long, pear-shaped bulb made of limestone, attributed to king Scorpion due to the glyph of a scorpion engraved by the head of a king wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt.  He is holding a hoe, and standing by a body of water, probably a canal.  He is facing a man holding a basket and men holding standards.  Men are busy along the banks of the canal.  Behind the king are 2 fan holders, some plants, women clapping their hands and a small group of people, all of them facing away from the king.  In the top register there is a row of nome standards.  A bird is dangling from each of them, strung up by its neck.  Discovered at Hierakonpolis. drawing: Benutzer Weneg
photo: Jon Bodsworth

3200 SHT 51 32-3000 wikScM 3100 wikAEA
c. 3100 1st DYNASTY begins until 2890.  Hieroglyphs are fully developed; their shapes change little for 3,000+ years.  Human sacrifice is part of funerary rituals with all kings.  Tombs are mostly wood and mud brick.  Manetho contradicts both archeological evidence and other historical records. double crown MINI (Menes), probably Falcon king Narmer, is 1st king until 3050, capital Thinis (Abydos).  Mini conquers the Lord of the Delta, boasts of taking 12,000 prisoners, 400,000 oxen.  Mini is first to wear the double crown.  Lower and Upper Egypt are UNITED until 2160. art: Jeff Dahl

3400 BCoC 63, BHOE 14, 597, TTPC, 3200 ISBE 1-251, WERE 3150 GHAE, wikHAE 3100 B76 6-460, GEoP 430, MCAW, Shaw, TAWH 16, resh, wikCEC, wikD1, wikP, 3050 DMoN, pic, rcE, treg, 3000 IDB 2-44, IDBS 253 2925 wik 2920 CVK, wikCEC
c.3100 NARMER believed to be the same person as Mini and to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt.  Possibly marries Neithhotep. 3100 wik1DE
c.3100 1st significant Λ IRRIGATION project created by Narmer/Menes - a series of canals and dams to divert the floodwaters, creating a new man-made lake called Moeris. 3100 Copilot
c.3100 NUMBERS:  An Egyptian mace records a successful military campaign.  It contains hieroglyphics for numbers in the 100,000s and 1,000,000s. 3100 EIHM 39
c.3100 DAGGERS in Egypt are usually made of copper or bronze, while royalty has gold weapons.  Some are adorned as ceremonial objects with golden hilts. 3100 Copilot
c.3050 MINI, probably Falcon king Narmer, 1st king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 3100, ends.  TETI-I succeeds until 3000. 3050 wikD1
3040 wikCEC
3016 pic   2925 GHAE
AHA succeeds, followed by 4-7 totally different names, including Djer, Djet, Merneith, Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet, Qaa. Clay, DMoN, GHAE, JIAE, Murn, Shaw, ktut, pic rcE, wikCEC, wikD1
c. 3000 NarmerNARMER PALETTE shows an early depiction of an Egyptian king.  On one side, the king is depicted with the bulbed White Crown of Upper Egypt; the other side has the king wearing the level Red Crown of Lower Egypt, which makes it the earliest known example of a king wearing both crowns.  It contains some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found.. photo: {{PD-US}}

31-3000 wikNP 3000 ISBE 4-1035
c.3000 HOLOCENE WET PERIOD ends, began 8500. 3000 wikBK
c.3000 PREDYNASTIC Period ends, in Lower Egypt from 5300ARCHAIC Period begins until 2700. 3200 ISBE 1-248, 251, 2-36 3150 wohiPPE
3000 RAI3, Shaw, wikPE
c.3000 NAQADA CULTURE ends, began in Upper Egypt 4000.
NAQADA-III culture ends, in Upper Egypt from 3200.  More elaborate grave goods, first kings, cylindrical jars, writing.
EARLY DYNASTIC Period begins until 2700.
3150 GHAE, wohiOKE, wohiPPE     3100 wikPE
3050 DMoN, treg     3000 Shaw, wikAE, wikNC, wikNq, wikPE 2925 britAE     2900 wikNC
c.3000 Λ Hieroglyphics first evidenced in Egypt. 3000 PW 14, bk, britAE
c.3000 TETI-I, king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from ??, ends.  ATI-I succeeds until ??. 3000 Manetho says reign = 57 years
c.3000 MEDICAL V info first recorded. 3000 wikAEM
c.3000 ARAMEANS appear in Egypt. 3100 IDB 1-190
c.3000 Egyptian reed Λ BOATS sail as far as Crete and Lebanon. 3000 B76 16-677
c.3000 ASTRONOMY V:  Egyptian priests note correlation between appearance of SIRIUS on the horizon and flooding of the Nile 3000 MCAW
c.3000 CALENDAR V:  Pyramid of Cheops at Giza near Cairo includes a tablet recording mythical explanation of extra 5 days added to Egyptian calendar of 360 days.  Thoth, god of night, gambled with the moon, winning 5 new days to add to the calendar, outside the jurisdiction of Ra, god of creation. 3000 kpol
by 3000 PERFUME is made in Egypt.  Priests use aromatic resins to sweeten their sacrificial offerings.  People believed burning incense connected them with the gods.   See  China 4500, Cyprus 2000, Mesopotamia 2000 by 3000 pfms,
c.3000 STAINED GLASS V used with silver to make ornaments and jewelry in Egypt. 3000 grnw,
c.3000 Λ ZOO/CEMETARY for animal mummies is built at Hierakonopols. 3000 Copilot
c.2955 ATI-I (Kenkenes), king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 3000, ends.  HUSAPHAITI (Ousaphaidos) succeeds until ??. 2955 Manetho says reign = 23 years
c.2950 Earliest known ARCH used in a tomb at Beit Khallaf.  3000-2900 BHoE 101
c.2935 HUSAPHAITI or DEN (Ousaphaidos), king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from ??, ends.  MARIBI (Miebidos) succeeds until 2920. 2935 Manetho says reign = 20 years
c.2930 MARIBI, king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos, declares a "smiting of the Troglodites", maintains a granite quarry in south to pave his tomb at Abydos. no date: BHoE 48
c.2920 MARIBI (Miebidos), king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2935, ends.  SAMSU (Semempses) succeeds until 2900. 2920 Manetho says reign = 26 years
c.2900 SAMSU (Semempses), king of 1st dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2935, ends.  QABHU (Qaa) succeeds until 2890. 2960 GHAE     2900 Manetho says reign = 18 years
c.2900 Papyrus, used for boats from ??, now used for writing. 1st dyn wikPpr 2700 bk
c.2900 Earliest Λ MEDICAL papyrii are written in Egypt. 2900 wikAEM 2700 ISBE 1-954
c.2890 1st DYNASTY ends, at Thinis (Abydos) from 3100, ends with death of QABHU.  2nd DYNASTY begins until 2700.  HETEPSEKHEMUI (Buzau) is 1st king until 2870.  2925 DMoN, GHAE
2890 B76 6-464, Clay, GEoP, MCAW, Shaw, bk, frO, rcE, treg, wikD2, wikHAE, wikP, wikSP, wohiPPE
2860 wikCEC
2775 britAE
BOETHOS (Bedjau) is 1st king, followed by 11 kings before Hetepsekhemui. GEoP
GODS of 1st & 2nd dynasties, alphabetically:  Anubis, Hathor, Horus (#1), Min, Neith, Osiris, Ptah, Seker, Set, Thoth;  also Apis (not pictured) represented by a live bull.  Isis does not arrive until the Old Kingdom.  Their genealogies, relationships and functions are hopelessly scrambled, often deliberately to serve the whims of prevailing power brokers.
All art is by Jeff Dahl, except Seker by Riley Williams.
BHoE 46, 597
gods1
    ANUBIS           HATHOR           HORUS               MIN                       NEITH
gods2
  OSIRIS               PTAH                 SEKER                   SET                   THOTH
c.2870 HETEPSEKHEMUI (Buzau), 1st king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2890, ends.  RANEB (Nebre) succeeds until 2840. 2870 guess     2837 wikCEC, Manetho says reign = 36 yrs
no date: Clay, DMoN, GEoP, JIAE, Shaw, ae, ktut, phou, pic, resh, tig, treg, wikP
c.2850 Egyptian  Creation Legend of Sun Worshippers .  Sun god Ra, also called Atum, created his son Shu and daughter Tefnut and they worked together to create order in Nu - the chaos of the universe. They created humans from tears of happiness and then made Yah the moon, Geb the earth, and Nut the sky. 2850 CMoG 2-83-91
c.2840 RANEB (Nebre), 2nd king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2870, ends.  NINETJER succeeds until 28??. 2840 guess 2815 pic
no date: Clay, DMoN, GEoP, GHAE, JIAE, Shaw, ae, phou, resh, tig, treg, wikP, wikP
c.2840 KAKDU (Kaiekhos), 2nd king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2870, ends.  NINETJER (Binutri) succeeds until 2810. 2840 Manetho says reign = 39 years
c.2825 Evidence of ORAL SURGERY begins in the 4th Dynasty. 29-2750 wikAEM
c.2810 NINETJER (Binutri), king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2840, ends.  WENEG or SENED succeeds until 28??. 2840 guess     2778 pic
no date
: DMoN, Shaw, ae, phou, wikP
c.2810 BINUTRI (Binothris), 3rd king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2840, ends.  UZNASIT succeeds until 2800. 2810 Manetho says reign = 47 years
c.2800 UZNASIT (Tlas), 4th king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2810, ends.  SONDI succeeds until 2775. 2800 Manetho says reign = 17 years
c.2800 Tomb of 2nd dynasty king SETH PERIBSEN (unknown in reign order) at Abydos contains artifacts including this granodiorite tomb stela and stone vase with the inscription, "tribute of the people of Sethroe".  He leaves a funerary cult lasting to at least the 4th dyn. stele: GFDL
vase: Iry-Hor

2890-2686 wikSP
c.2800 An Egyptian FLEET is maintained in the Red Sea until ? for trade.  . 2800 ISBE 4-60
c.2775 SONDI (Sethenes), 5th king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2800, ends.  KHAIRES succeeds until 2765. 2775 Manetho says reign = 41 years
2781 Jul 19 Egyptian civil ΛCALENDAR:  Changed from 6 months of 29 days + 6 months of 30 days, + 1 intercallary month.
to 12 months of 30 days + 5 intercallary days at beginning of year, making 265 days total.  A real solar year = 365.24219879 days.
2937-2821 FHBC 24 2850 RAH 58, 67 2781 ISBE 2-35, wikSC
2773 July 17 Λ ASTRONOMY:  Sothic cycle, the rising of SIRIUS on the same day as the new year.  Mentioned in an ivory tablet from the reign of Djer.  But this date is too late for Djer's reign, so it probably indicates a correlation between the rising of Sirius and the Egyptian lunar calendar, instead of the solar.  2773 IDBS 254, wikSC
c.2765 KHAIRES, 6th king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2775, ends.  NOFIRKARI succeeds until 2750. 2765 Manetho says reign = 17 years
c.2750 NOFIRKARI (Neferkhare), 7th king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2765, ends.  SESOKHRIS succeeds until 2720. 2750 Manetho says reign = 26 years
c.2720 SESOKHRIS, 8th king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2750, ends.  KHASEKHEMUI succeeds until 2700. 2720 Manetho says reign = 48 years
c.2720 SESOKHRIS (Peribsen?), king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2750, ends.  KHASEKHEMUI succeeds until 2700. 2720 Manetho says reign = 48 years
no date: ktut, phou, resh, tig, treg, wikP
c.2710 KHASEKHEMUI, king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos, builds temple at Hieraconopolis "Falcon city".  A granite doorpost has survived. no date: BHoE 42
c.2700 BRONZE used for tools and weapons in Egypt. 2700 ISBE 1-548
c.2700 KHASEKHEMUI (Kheneres), king of 2nd dyn of Upper Egypt at Abydos from 2720, ends.  His tomb has brick chambers and cut limestone (1st known stone masonry). 2727 wikCEC
2700 Manetho says reign = 30 years     2686 rcE
no date: BHoE 42
c.2700 ARCHAIC Period ends, in Egypt from 3000.
EARLY DYNASTIC Period ends, in Egypt from 3000.
2nd DYNASTY ends, in Upper Egypt at Abydos from 28903rd DYNASTY begins at Memphis until 2613.  SANAKHT is 1st king until 2686 at Memphis, which becomes capital of Egypt and remains so until 2160.
OLD KINGDOM begins at Memphis until 2181.
2980 BHoE 597, GHoE, TTPC 4
2800 WERE     2780 RAH 59
2705 pic     2700 GEoP, GHAE, IDB 2-44, ISBE 1-251, 2-37, PW 14, SOTS 24     2688 resh     2686 B76 6-465, CBCOT, Clay, JIAE, MCAW, Shaw 83, TAWH 16, WPOT 81, britAE, rcE, stnr, treg, wikAE, wikD2, wikED, wikHAE, wikOKE, wikP, wikPT, wikSP     2670 wohiOKE, wohiPPE     2650 britAE, treg, ae     2649 wikCEC
2613 wohiOKE, wohiPPE
Kings are not called pharaohs until the New Kingdom.
c.2686 SANAKHT, 1st king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from 2700 ends.  NEBKA succeeds until 2667. 2700 GHAE     2686 CBCOT, GHAE, JIAE, MCAW, Shaw, TAWH 16, WPOT 81, ktut 2668 Clay, rcE, tig, wikP     2650 wikSn     2631 ae     2630 treg, wikCEC
c.2667 NEBKA, 2nd king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from 2686 ends.  DJOSER succeeds until 2648. 2668 Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, resh, stnr, wikP     2667 Shaw 83, phou     2662 DMoN
2630 treg, wikHAE
c.2666 Physician IMHOTEP becomes vizir of Djoser, tries to find medical as well as religious treatments for disease, designs pyramids, begins extensive stone masonry. 2980 TTPC 2700 bk
no date: BHoE
Biblical Joseph = Imhotep. stnr,
All pyramids are built on the west bank of the Nile, which, as the site of the setting sun, is associated with the realm of the dead. wikEPr
c.2650 Step Pyramid6 tier STEP PYRAMID, at Sakkara built by Imhotep, chancellor and high priest of Ra, for Djoser.  1st building completely of cut stone, originally 62.5m tall, with a base of 109m x 121m, and clad in polished white limestone. photo: Charles J. Sharp

2940 BCoC 65
2700 ISBE 3-1060 2650 PW 14, wikPDj 2620 BHoE
no date: WPOT
c.2648 DJOSER, 3rd king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from 2667 ends.  SEKHEMKET succeeds until 2640. 2667 pic     2649 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, resh, stnr, tig, wikP     2648 MCAW, Shaw 83, phou     2623 ae     2611 treg, wikCEC, wikHAE     no date: wikP
c.2645 Buried PyramidBuried Pyramid of Sekhemkhet built of limestone at Sakkara, several hundred meters southwest of Djoser's - an unfinished step pyramid.  Only one step is finished - base length 115m, blocks are inclined inward 15°. photo: Pottery Fan

2645 wikBrP
c.2640 SEKHEMKET, 4th king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from 2648 ends.  KHABA succeeds until 2637. 2660 pic     2643 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, wikP     2641 resh     2640 Shaw 86, phou 2623 ae     2603 treg, wikCEC
c.2637 KHABA, 5th king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from 2640 ends.  SANAKHT or HUNI succeeds until 2613. 2654 pic     2637 Clay, JIAE, Murn, Shaw 87, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, tig, wikP
2630 wohiOKE     2619 ae 2599 treg, wikCEC
c.2637 Layer PyramidLayer Pyramid, possibly of Khaba built of natural bedrock and mudbricks 7km north of Sakkara.  Originally planned to be 5 steps, 42-45m high (today only 17m), base 84m, surrounded by a necropolis housing large mastabas of high officials.  A mortuary temple is built east of it. plan: Iry-Hor
photo: PotteryFan

2630 wikLP
c.2625 king headHead of a king, c.2650-2600.  Earliest representations of Egyptian Kings are on a small scale.  From the 3rd Dynasty, statues show the ruler life-size.  This head wearing the crown of Upper Egypt is larger than life-size. photo: Edwin Wilbour Fund

2650-2600 wikOKE
c.2613 SANAKHT or HUNI, king of 3rd dyn at Memphis from ?? ends.  3rd DYNASTY ends, at Memphis from 27004th DYNASTY begins until 2494.  SNEFRU is 1st king until 2589. 2900 BHoE 597     2680 RAH 59
2650 IDB 2-44     2630 pic     2625 GHAE     2620 GHAE 434 2613 B76 6-465, Clay, JIAE, MCAW, Murn, Shaw 87, WPOT 81, bk, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, stnr, tig, wikD4, wikEPr, wikHAE, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE
2597 DMoN     2575 CVK, ae, britAE, treg, wikCEC
c.2613 By the end of the 3rd dynasty WRITING expands to include more than 200 symbols, both phonograms and ideograms. wikED
c.2613 NUBIA 1st mentioned in an Egyptian text.  Snefru raids Nubia. 2613 B76 VII 430
c.2610 Meidum PyramidMEIDUM PYRAMID is built at Meidum, 72km south of Cairo and abandoned by Snefru.  It is thought to be the 2nd pyramid built after Djoser's, and may have been originally built for Huni.  It is the first straight-sided one, but it has construction errors, and partially collapsed while still under construction.  Height 65m (ruined); would have been 91.65m, base 144m, slope51°.  1st to have an above-ground burial chamber. photo: Kurohito

no date: wikMdm
c.2610 1st straight sided PYRAMID built at Dahshur by Snefru. 2600 PW 14
no date: MCAW
c.2600 Snefru sends 40 ships to Byblos to buy cedar to biuld more ships. recorded in Palermo Stone     2900 LS 24
c.2600 BALANCE SCALE V, invented 5000, first evidenced in Egypt by carved stones bearing marks denoting mass and the hieroglyphic symbol for gold. 2600 wikWS,
GODS added in Old Kingdom:  Atum, a god closely connected with the sun and the primeval mound, is the focus of a creation myth dating back at least to the Old Kingdom.  Atum, who incorporates all the elements of the world, exists within the waters as a potential being.  At the time of creation he emerges to produce other gods, resulting in a set of 9 deities, the Ennead, which includes Geb, Nut, and other key elements of the world.  The Ennead can by extension stand for all the gods, so its creation represents the differentiation of Atum's unified potential being into the multiplicity of elements present within the world.
alphabetically: Anqet, Atum, Geb, Isis, Khnum, Maat, Nephthys, Nut, Ra, Shu, Tefnut.
All art is by Jeff Dahl, except Geb by Daniel Toye, Nut by A. Parrot, Tefnut by A8takashi.
no date: BHoE 46, 597, wikEM
gods1
    ANQET               ATUM                   GEB                   ISIS               KHNUM
gods2
  MAAT       NEPHTHYS         NUT                   RA                 SHU           TEFNUT
c.2600 Snefru develops COPPER mines in Sinai. 2920 TTPC
c.2600 Bent PyramidBENT PYRAMID built by Snefru at Dahshur, .  It rises from the desert at 54°, but the top section (above 47m) is built at the shallower angle of 43°.  Maybe the steepness of the original angle showed signs of instability during construction.  Maybe Snefru ran low on money, or thought he would die before completing it.  Height 104.71m, base 189.43m square.  Its original polished limestone outer casing remains largely intact. photo: lienyuan lee

2600 wikBntP
c.2600 Annual Nile flood lets Egyptian peasants produce enough barley and emmer wheat to feed 3 people, with enough surplus to support flood control projects, public buildings, pyramids. 2600 TTPC
c.2600 Fish and poultry preserved by sun-drying. 2600 TTPC
c.2589 Red PyramidSNEFRU, 1st king of 4th dyn from 2613, dies.  His RED PYRAMID at Dahshur is believed to be Egypt's first successful attempt at a "true" smooth-sided pyramid.  It was originally cased with white Tura limestone, but only a few of these stones now remain, revealing the red limestone beneath.  Height 105m, base 220m, slope 43°.
Son Khnum KHUFU "Khnum protect me" (Greek Cheops) succeeds until 2566.
photo: Olaf Tausch

2900 BHoE     2606 pic 2589 MCAW, Murn, Shaw 87, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, tig, wikD4, wikEPr, wikOKE, wikP     2586 Clay     2551 ae, treg, wikCEC   2547 DMoN
c.2575 KHUFU, king of 4th dyn, sends expeditions to Nubia for slaves, and Sinai for copper & malachite.  He also trades with Byblos for copper and cedar. no date: BHoE, MCAW, wikKfu
c.2575 GREAT PYRAMID built at Giza by Khufu.  Most blocks are of local limestone; some are imported by boat from Tura and Aswan.  Covers 13 acres, base 230.6m square, 146.7m tall, slope 51°, 2,300,000 blocks average 28 tons.  Herodotus says it took 100,000 workers 20 years.  Most stones are not uniform in size or shape.  Outside layers are bound together by mortar. 2590 TAWH 16
2580 bk
2575 MCAW
2570 wikGPG
2530 PW 14
no date: BHoE 117
Great Pyramid
1. original entrance on northface   2. robbers tunnel (tourist entrance)   3. descending corridor   4. descending tunnel   5. subterranean chamber   6. ascending corridor   7. queen's chamber and air ducts   8. horizontal corridor   9. Gallery   10. King's chamber and air ducts   11. vertical tunnel
plan: Flanker
c.2575 Religious texts and canonical lists classifying the categories of creation begin. 2575 britAE
c.2570 Temple of HATHOR, already existing at Dendera, rebuilt by Khufu.  It will be rebuilt many times. no date: BHoE 119
c.2566 Khnum KHUFU "Khnum protect me" (Greek Cheops), 2nd king of 4th dyn from 2589, dies.  His pyramid is the worlds tallest man-made structure until 1311 CE when surpassed by Lincoln Cathedral.
Son REDJEDEF (Djedefre) succeeds until 2558.
photo: Nina

2583 pic     2566 Clay, MCAW, Murn, Shaw 88, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, tig, wikD4, wikEPr, wikKfu wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE 2528 ae, treg, wikCEC
2524 DMoN
c.2560 REDJEDEF (Djedefre) is the first king to claim the title "Son of Ra". no date: wohiOKE
c.2558 ruined pyramidREDJEDEF (Djedefre), 3rd king of 4th dyn from 2566, ends.  The history of his pyramid at Abu Rawash is unknown.  Its destruction will start by the end of the New Kingdom, and will continue.  Ruins are all that is left.
KHAFRE succeeds until 2532.
photo: pub dom

2575 pic     2558 Clay, Murn, Shaw 90, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, tig, wikD4, wikEPr, wikOKE, wikP, wikPK, wohiOKE     2520 treg, wikCEC 2518 ae     2516 DMoN
c.2550  Diary of Merer  is written with (hieratic) hieroglyphs and published in Egypt on Papyrus.  Written by a construction inspector.  Mostly consists of lists of daily activities of Merer and his crew.  Describes the last years of building the Great Pyramid.  They are the oldest known papyri with text.  2560-50 wikPpr
no date: wikDM
c.2550 pyramid sphinxSPHINX, the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt, built by Khafre on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile.  It measures 73m from paw to tail, 20m high from the base to the top of the head, and 19m wide at its rear haunches. photo: MusikAnimal

2550 MCAW 2500 wikGSG no date: NLEM 22
c. 2532 pyramid sphinxKHAFRE, 4th king of 4th dyn from 2558, ends.  His pyramid of limestone blocks weighing more than 2 tons each is 2nd largest at Giza.  Height 136.4m, originally 143.5m, base 215.25m square, slope 53°10'.  At the northwest corner, the bedrock is carved into steps.  During the 19th Dyn, Ramses-II will remove casing stones to build a temple in Heliopolis.
MENKURE succeeds until 2503.
photo: Hamish2k

2550 pic     2533 MCAW 2532 Clay, Murn, Shaw 84, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, tig, wikD4, wikEPr, wikOKE, wikP, wikPK, wohiOKE     2494 treg, wikCEC     2493 DMoN 2492 ae
c.2530 Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet El Aryan is built of natural bedrock, grey granite and pink granite by an unknown king of the 4th dyn, possibly Bikheris. 2530 wikUNP
c.2504 pyramid MenkureMENKURE, 5th king of 4th dyn from 2532, dies.  Short on money, he built a pyramid at Giza less than half as tall as previous 2 pyramids.  It measures 103.4m at the base and 65.5m high. There are 3 subsidiary pyramids associated with it.
SHEPSESKAF succeeds until 2494.
photo: GNU FDL

2530 pic     2514 resh     2510 wikMaF     2504 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, wikEPr, wikOKE     2503 Shaw 84, phou, wikD4, wikP, wohiOKE     2500 wikMnk
2475 DMoN     2472 ae, treg, wikCEC     no date: BHoE 121
complex
plan: MesserWoland
c.2500 Λ GLASS in Egypt & Mesopotamia.  Free standing objects begin, some made from molds. 2500 SHT 2-311, 335
c.2500 COTTON, cultivated in east Sudan from 5000, cultivated in Egypt.   Levant 5200, India 3000 2500 Copilot
c.2500 BAG PRESS inventted in Egypt for processing food.   2500 Copilot
c.2494 SHEPSESKAF, 6th king of 4th dyn from 2503, ends.
4th DYNASTY ends, at Memphis from 2613.
Weak 5th DYNASTY begins until 2345.  USERKAF is 1st king until 2487.
2750 BHoE 15, 123, 597     2560 RAH 59
2526 pic     2510 GHAE     2503 wikMaF
2500 Clay, IDB 2-44, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig 2498 Shaw, phou, wikHAE, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE     2496 wikD4     2494 B76 6-466, MCAW, JIAE, Shaw 87, WPOT 82, britAE, resh, wikD4, wikEPr, wikOKE
2480 GEoP, CWH     2471 DMoN
2467 ae, treg, wikCEC     2465 britAE
c.2494 MastabahMastabat al-Firaun built in South Sakkara by Shepseskaf as his grave monument.  It is 99.6m long and 74.4m wide.  It is about 18m high and the sides are inclined 70° .  For the core structure, red sandstone was used. photo: Jon Bodsworth

2503 wikMaF
c.2491 Temple RaTemple to RA built south of Giza at Abu Jirab by Userkaf.
HORUS, main god of Egypt from ??, loses 1st place to RA until ??.  Temple complex has several parts: on a low hill on the desert edge is the main temple which could be accessed via a causeway from a valley temple, nearer to the area of cultivation and the Nile.
plan: Anton Gutsunaev

2490 no date: wikSTU
c.2490 complex UserkafMortuary complex of Userkaf built of limestone at Sakkara.  The layout differs from earlier complexes.  It is on a north-south axis rather than east-west:  The high temple is south of the main pyramid, and its structures are turned away from it.  A small offering chapel adjoins the east base of the pyramid,
1) Main pyramid, 2) offering hall, 3) cult pyramid;
The mortuary temple comprises: 4) courtyard, 5) chapel, 6) entrance corridors, 7) causeway.
plan: Iry-Hor

2490 wikPU
c.2487 pyramid UserkafUSERKAF, 1st king of 5th dyn from 2494, ends.  Probable son SAHURE "He who is close to Re" succeeds until 2475. photo: Neithsabes

Manetho says 28 year reign
2517 pic     2491 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, wikP, wohiOKE
2487 Shaw 98, phou, resh, wikEPr, wikOKE, wikPU     2464 DMoN, wikShr     2458 ae, treg, wikCEC     no date: BHoE 597
c.2480 80 armed ships sent by Sahure to Phoenicia.  They return safely with "Asians" i.e. Phoenician prisoners. 2750 BHoE 597 2700 LS 6
c.2480 SAHURE trades with Byblos, brings back Syrian brown bears, no date: wikShr
c.2480 SAHURE sends 1st recorded expedition to PUNT to trade for fragrant gums and resins used to make PERFUME.  Comes back with 80,000 of an unspecified measure of myrrh, along with malachite, 6000 measures of electrum and 2600 or 23,020 staves, possibly made of ebony. 2750 BHoE 127, wikShr
c.2480 SAHURE builds a sun temple called "The Field of Ra", (location unknown), presumably in Abusir. no date: wikShr
c.2477 pyramid SahureSAHURE "He who is close to Ra", 2nd king of 5th dyn from 2487, ends.  His pyramid is at Abusir, possibly because of the presence of the sun temple of Userkaf.  It is much smaller than those of the 4th Dynasty, and employs cheap construction techniques.  But the decoration and architecture of his mortuary temple is more elaborate.  It introduces columns with capitals in the form of palm leaves.
Son KAKAI (Neferirkara) succeeds until 2467.
photo: Jon Bodsworth

Manetho says 18 yr reign 2505 pic     2477 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, wikP, wohiOKE
2475 Shaw 84, phou, resh, wikEPr, wikOKE     2458 treg     2452 DMoN 2446 ae, wikCEC
2325 wikShr
no date: BHoE 597
c.2475 Sahure's TOMB shows 4 Libyan chiefs each wearing a uraeus (cobra), a symbol of royalty.  no date: BHoE 32
c.2470 KAKAI builds a temple to sun god Ra called Setibre 'Site of the heart of Ra' (never located). no date: wikNK
c.2467 pyramid KakaiKAKAI (Neferirkare), 3rd king of 5th dyn from 2477, dies.  He started a step pyramid in Abusir, which is modified into a true pyramid with retaining walls of locally quarried limestone.  His pyramid would have been the largest in Abusir, but he dies before finishing.  Its ruins suffer from extensive stone robbing.  Sarcophagus not found.
SHEPSESKERE (or possibly Nefefefre?) succeeds until 2460.
photo: Aoswch

2495 pic    2472 ae 2467 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, treg, wikP, wikEPr, wohiOKE     2455 Shaw 84, phou, resh, wikOKE
2444 DMoN     2426 wikCEC    no date: BHoE 597, wikNK
c.2460 SHEPSESKERE, 4th king of 5th dyn from 2467, ends.  An unfinished pyramid in north Abusir is believed to belong to him.
Probable son of Kakai, RANEFEREF (Neferefre) succeeds until 2453.
2526 pic 2460 Clay, frO, ktut, tig, wikP
2448 Shaw, phou, resh     2435 DMoN 2419 ae, treg, wikCEC
no date: BHoE 597, wikNf, wikSps
c.2453 ReneferefRANEFEREF (Neferefre), 5th king of 5th dyn from 2460, ends.  His pyramid at Abusir was abandoned near his 2nd year of reign, but he is biried in it anyway.  It is converted to a mastaba with these parts: A: External wall, B: Internal wall, C: Stepping fill, D: Pit for underground chambers, E: Pit for entry.  Fragments of his mummy show that he died in his early 20s.  Bro NUSERRE INI succeeds until 2422. plan: GDK

2477 pic     2458 wohiOKE     2453 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, tig, wikP 2445 Shaw, phou, resh, wikOKE, wikP     2432 DMoN     2416 ae, treg, wikCEC, wikEPr
no date: BHoE 597, wikNf
c.2450 1st evidence of OSIRIS worship. 25-2400 wikOs
c.2440 NUSERRE INI continues trade relations with Byblos and sends mining and quarrying expeditions to Sinai and Lower Nubia. no date: wikNsI
c.2440 Sun templeSun temple of Ra begun by Userkaf in Abu Gorab completed in mudbrick by Nuserre Ini.  It is the largest surviving temple to Ra, and named "Joy of the heart of Ra".  It will later be reconstructed entirely in stone, the only such structure to receive this treatment. art: Ludwig Borchardt

no date: wikNsI
c.2440 Valley temple of Menkure in Giza completed by Nuserre Ini. no date: wikNsI
c.2422 pyramid NusereNUSERRE INI, 6th king of 5th dyn from 2445, dies.  His pyramid at Abusir is 52m tall, base 78.8m along each side, slope 52°, and entirely covered in fine limestone.  Burial chamber and antechamber are both lined with fine limestone and roofed with 3 tiers of limestone beams 10m long.
MENKUHOR succeeds until 2414.
photo: Kurohito

Manetho says 7 yr reign 2466 pic     2422 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, treg, wikP, wohiOKE 2421 DMoN, Shaw, phou, resh, wikOKE
2392 ae, wikCEC, wikEPr
no date: BHoE 597
c.2414 MENKUHOR, 7th king of 5th dyn from 2421, dies.  His small pyramid, now called Lepsius XXIX in North-Sakkara was finished, but since destroyed.  It is estimated to have been 50-60m at the base, so that it would have stood 40-50m high.
DJEDKARE ISESI succeeds until 2375.  He does not build a temple to sun god Ra, possibly because of rise of Osiris.
2458 pic     2414 Clay, Shaw, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, tig, treg, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE
2413 DMoN, resh     2388 ae
2338 wikCEC     no date: BHoE 597, wikMnk
c. 2400  Osiris Myth  reaches its basic form.  Osiris inherits kingship of Egypt from his ancestors stretching back to the creator of the world, Ra or Atum.  His queen is Isis, Osiris is murderered by his bro Set, who usurps his throne.  Meanwhile, Isis, aided by Nephthys, restores Osiris's body, allowing him to posthumously conceive their son, Horus.  The rest of the story focuses on Horus, who is at first a vulnerable child protected by his mother and then becomes Set's rival for the throne.  Their often violent conflict ends with Horus's triumph, which restores maat (cosmic and social order) to Egypt after Set's unrighteous reign and completes Osiris's resurrection.
Earliest mention of Osiris myth is in the Pyramid Texts.  The story evolves into mutually contradictory versions.
in or pre 24th cent wikOsM
c.2400 PalermoPALERMO STONE, one of 7 surviving fragments of a stele called Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom, engraved in 6 bands of hieroglyphics running right to left..  Details reigns of 1st to mid 5th dynasties with regnal years and significant events.  The first register lists names of predynastic kings of Lower Egypt (identified by Red Crown).  2nd and subsequent registers contain portions of royal annals for kings of the 1st to 4th Dynasties, arranged chronologically.  Most of 1st & 2nd dyns are missing.  The text continues on the back of the Stone, cataloguing events during reigns of kings down to Neferirkare Kakai, 3rd ruler of 5th Dyn. photo: Königlich Preussische Akademie

2400 2200 WPOT 264
c.2400 OBELISKS 1st evidenced, but only 2 known obelisks date prior to the New Kingdom. 2400 ISBE 3-578
by 2400 PLUMBING:  Copper pipes appear in Egypt, connecting the Pyramid of Sahure and adjoining temple complex at Abusir. by 2400 Copilot
c.2390 DJEDKARE ISESI sends trade expeditions to Sinai to get copper and turquoise, to Nubia for gold and diorite, and to Punt for incense, and made punitive raids in Canaan.  One expedition has what could be the earliest recorded instance of oracular divination to ensure success. no date: wikDI
c.2390 DJEDKARE ISESI effects significant reforms of state administration and priesthood, in particular pertaining to funerary cults in the necropolis of Abusir.  These are witnessed by changes in priestly titles and in the system of ranking titles of high officials, which is modified for the first time. no date: wikDI
c.2390 Djedkare Isesi opens QUARRIES at Wadi Hammamat 3 days journey east of the Nile. no date: BHoE 128
c.2390 PTAH HOTEP, vizir to Isesi, governor of Memphis, writes  Instruction of the Vizir Ptah Hotep to His Son , aka  Wisdom of Ptahotep   Earliest known code of moral conduct. 2450 ISBE 1-255, PANE 2400 MCAW no date:
c.2375 IsesiDJEDKARE ISESI, 8th king of 5th dyn from 2414, dies.  His pyramid in South Sakkara originally comprised 6 or 7 steps made of irregular rough hewn limestone blocks, of which 3 survive.  This core is overlaid by casing stones of white Tura limestone, later stolen.  It stood 52m high, base length 78.75m, slope 52°.  In the interior a descending passage, behind 3 granite portcullises, leads to an antechamber, 3 magazine rooms and the burial chamber.   
Possible son UNAS succeeds until 2345.
photo: Didia

2430 pic     2385 DMoN
2381 resh     2375 Clay, Murn, Shaw, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, tig, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE     2356 ae, treg, wikCEC
2353 wikPT
no date: BHoE 597, wikDI
c.2360 During economic decline, UNAS maintains trade relations with the Levantine coast and Nubia. no date: wikUn
c.2350  Abusir Papyri  created.  A collection of administrative papyri containing info about running a royal mortuary temple, and include duty rosters for priests, inventories of temple equipment, and lists of daily offerings to the 2 solar temples at Abu Gorab, north of Abusir, plus letters and permits.  Fragments bear the remains of 2 different writings. 2350 wikAbsP
Abusir
Abusir necropolis.
map: pub dom
by 2350 HEMP used in Egypt for making rope; CANNABIS used for medicine. by 2350 wikHAg
c. 2345 Pyramid UnasUNAS, 9th king of 5th dyn from 2375, dies without male heirs.  His pyramid at Sakkara is the smallest yet, 43m high, square base of 57.7m.  The mortuary complex with its temples linked by a 750m causeway is decorated with high painted reliefs.  Unas is 1st to have Pyramid Texts carved and painted on the walls of his pyramid.  They identify him with Ra and Osiris.
5th DYNASTY ends. Began 2494.
6th DYNASTY begins until 2181.  TETI-III is 1st king until 2333.  Local governors become feudal land barons.
photo: Olaf Tausch

2625 BHoE 15, 131, 597
2460 GHAE     2420 RAH 59 2400 pic     2355 DMoN
2350 IDB 2-45     2345 B76 6-467, Clay, JIAE, MCAW, Murn, Shaw, WPOT 82, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, resh, stnr, tig, treg, wikD6, wikHAE, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE     2340 CWH, GEoP, bk     2325 britAE     2323 ae, wikCEC, wikPT, wikTt     2315 wikUn
c. 2345 Pyramid text Pyramid Texts  written in Old Egyptian on interior walls of pyramids.  They are reserved for the kings, and not illustrated.  The oldest version consists of 228 spells from the Pyramid of Unas.  Primarily concerned with navigating the afterlife, i.e. transforming the dead into an Akh (where those judged worthy could mix with the gods) by means of spells, which are divided into 2 broad categories:  Sacerdotal texts and Personal texts.  Texts appear in pyramids of dynasties 5, 6, and 8.  Use and occurrence of Pyramid Texts will change between the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms.  During the Old Kingdom, Pyramid Texts are in the pyramids of kings and 3 queens: Wedjebten, Neith, and Iput. photo: Brooklyn Museum

24-2300 crstl, wikPT, wohi, 2345 wikOKE
c.2340 Vizir of Teti, MERENKURA builds a mastaba tomb at Sakkara having 33 richly carved rooms, the biggest known tomb for an Egyptian noble.  This implies that wealth is being transferred from the central court to the officials. no date: wikTt
c.2333  Pyramid text of Unas , says:
"Ho, Unas!  You have not gone away dead: you have gone away alive.  Sit on Osiris's chair, with your baton in your arm, and govern the living;  with your water lily scepter in your arm, and govern those of the inaccessible places.  Your lower arms are of Atum, your upper arms of Atum, your belly of Atum, your back of Atum, your rear of Atum, your legs of Atum, your face of Anubis.  Horus's mounds shall serve you; Seth's mounds shall serve you."
2323 wikPT
c.2333 TETI-III, 1st king of 6th dyn from 2345, dies, possibly assassinated.  Manetho says a harem plot.  He is buried in the royal necropolis at Sakkara.  His pyramid complex is associated with mastabas of officials from his reign.
USERKARE usurps until 2332.  His name means "Powerful is the soul of Ra,"
2390 pic     2333 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, treg, wikD6, wikP, wohiOKE     2323 Shaw, phou     2313 resh     2291 ae, wikCEC, wikPT, wikTt
no date: BHoE 597
c.2332 USERKARE, 2nd king of 6th dyn from 2333, dies.  His tomb has not been identified.  Son of Teti, PEPI-I MERYRE succeeds until 2283. 2390 pic     2343 DMoN
2332 Murn, ktut, rcE, wikP, wohiOKE     2331 wikD6
2321 Shaw, phou    2300 wik23 2289 ae, wikCEC, wikPT
no date: BHoE 598, wikP1M
c.2320 PEPI-I drafts Nubians for offensive against Bedouins in northeast. no date: BHoE 134
c.2300 Λ CIRCUMCISION practiced in 6th dynasty, evidenced by tomb relief at Sakkara. no date: IDB 1-529
c.2300 CANAL from the Nile to Lake Moeris built by ??. 2300 wikOKE
c.2300 PEPI-I, after 4 campaigns against Bedouin in Sinai, sails along coast of Canaan, lands and pursues Bedouin into highlands of Canaan. no date: BHoE 135
c.2300 PEPI-I becomes the most prolific builder of the Old Kingdom, builds many temples dedicated to local gods, and many chapels for his own cult thruout Egypt, reinforcing his presence in the provinces. no date: wikP1M
c.2300 PEPI-I campaigns against Nubia, Sinai, and south Levant, lands troops on Levantine coast using Egyptian transport boats.  He trades with Byblos, Ebla and the oases of the Western Desert, sends mining and quarrying expeditions to Sinai. no date: wikP1M
c.2290 PEPI-I allies with Khui, nomarch of Abydos, marryies 2 of his daus, Ankhesenpepi I and II, makes Khui's wife Nebet and her son Djau viziers. no date: wikP1M
c.2290 PEPI-I builds a pyramid complex for his funerary cult in Sakkara, plus 6 pyramids for his consorts.  Pepi's complex, called Pepi Mennefer, remains with his funerary cult into the Middle Kingdom and ultimately gives its name to nearby capital, Memphis. plan: Mr rnddude

no date: wikP1M
c.2288 queenWife of Pepi-! and Merenre, Queen Ankhesenpepi-II is sculpted in alabaster with her son, Pepi-II.  She is daughter of Khui and female vizier Nebet.  Her sis Ankhesenpepi I was also married to Pepi-I, and her bro Djau served as vizier.    She will be buried in a pyramid in Sakkara. photo: unstated

2288 wik23
no date: wikAnk2
c.2287 UNI, governor of south for Merenre-I, cuts 5 canals thru granite of 1st cataract in 1 year to get to granite quarries.  One goes from the first cataract into Nubia.  Uni also makes 1st cataract passable by ships, but this is filled in later (1877) no date: BHoE 136
c.2285 MERENRE-I, 4th king of 6th dyn, in his 5th year, takes unprecedented step of going in person to 1st cataract to receive homage from locals.  Appoints HARKHUF governor of south. no date: BHoE 137-8
c.2283 PEPI-I MERYRE, 3rd king of 6th dyn from 2332, dies.  His pyramid originally stands 52.5m tall, and has a side temple.  Most Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom are in Pepi I's mortuary complex.  For the first time, Pyramid Texts also appear in consorts  pyramids.  His monuments will be cannibalized for their stone in the New Kingdom, and in the Mamluk era they are almost entirely dismantled.
Son MERENRE-I Nemtyemsaf succeeds until 2278.
2297 DMoN    2287 Shaw, phou, wikD6 2283 Clay, Murn, frO, ktut, rcE, tig, treg, wikP, wohiOKE     2279 resh 2261 pic     2255 ae, wikCEC, wikPT
no date: BHoE 598, wikMN1, wikP1M
c.2280 MERENRE-I, 4th king of 6th dyn, appoints old servant UNI governor of south, where barons of Elephantine zealously support Merenre-I. no date: BHoE 135
c.2280 Provincial administrators in Upper Egypt increase in number and power, while the size of the central administration in the capital declines.  Provincial nobility became responsible for tax collection and resource management, gaining political independence and economic power. no date: wikMN1,
c.2280 MERENRE-I trades with the Levantine coast for lapis lazuli, silver, bitumen, and tin, quarries for granite, travertine and alabaster in the south and Eastern Desert.   He also sends several trading and quarrying expeditions to Nubia, where caravans with hundreds of donkeys fetch incense, ebony, animal skins, ivory and exotic animals. no date: wikMN1,
c.2278 pyramid MerenreMERENRE-I, 4th king of 6th dyn from 2287, dies.  His pyramid complex at Sakkara is likely already completed.  The pyramid was originally 52.5m high, base 79m square.  Subterranean chambers have Pyramid Texts.  In the burial chamber, a black basalt sarcophagus still held a mummy when entered in the 19th century.  Identification of the mummy as Merenre's is still uncertain.
Son PEPI-II Neferkare, age 6, succeeds, and rules 94 years to 2184.  Mother Ankhesenpepi (Ankhesenmeryre)-II probably rules as regent.
photo: Wannabe Egyptologist

2294 B76 6-468
2290 DMoN    2284 wikP2N 2278 Clay, Murn, Shaw, frO, ktut, phou, rcE, stnr, tig, treg, wikD6, wikHAE, wikOKE, wikP, wohiOKE 2275 bk     2270 MCAW, resh 2255 pic     2246 ae, wikCEC, wikPT     no date: BHoE 139, 598, wikMN1
c.2276 HARKHUF, governor of Upper Egypt for Pepi-I, is sent to Yam (Nubia) 4th time, to trade and collect ivory, ebony, and other precious items.  Returns with much loot and a dwarf or pygmy. 2nd year of Pepi2 BHoE 139 no date: wikP2N
4.2 kiloyear event begins from 2200 to 2150?.  A volcanic eruption causes marked increase in aridity and wind circulation, induces degradation of land-use conditions.
Global distribution of 4.2 kiloyear event.  Hatched areas get wet conditions or flooding.  Dotted areas get drought or dust storms.
map: Jianjun Wang

2200 wik4.2, wikAE, wikAkE, wikOKE
c.2190 Late in his reign, Pepi-II divides the office of vizier: one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower, further decentralizing power away from the royal capital of Memphis.  The seat of vizier of Lower Egypt is moved several times. no date: wikP2N
c.2185 CIVIL STRIFE begins in Egypt until 2040. 2185 bk
2280 RAH 67
c. 2184 PEPI-II Neferkare, 5th king of 6th dyn from 2278, dies.  His pyramid, made from small, local stones and infill, 52.5m high, base 78.5m, has a core of limestone and clay mortar, and is encased in white limestone.  The burial chamber has a gabled ceiling covered by painted stars.  2 walls are large granite slabs.  The sarcophagus is black granite inscribed with the king's name and titles.  To the northwest are pyramids of his consorts Neith and Iput.  Neith's pyramid is the largest.  The pyramid of Udjebten is to the south.  The Queens' pyramids each have their own chapel, temple and a satellite pyramid.  They contain Pyramid Texts.
Confused data implies 2 or 3 succeeding rulers, including a queen, followed by son Merenre-II Nitiqret or Netjerkare Siptah until 2181.
2261 pic 2196 DMoN
2216 or 2184 wikP2N
2185 rcE    2184 Clay, Murn, Shaw, frO, ktut, phou, stnr, tig, treg, wik22, wikD6, wikHAE, wikOKE, wohiOKE 2183 wikP     2181 resh, wikNS     2152 ae, wikCEC, wikPT    no date: BHoE 598
c. 2181 Merenre-II Nitiqret or Netjerkare Siptah, king of 6th dyn from 2183, dies.
6th DYNASTY ends, in Egypt from 2345.
OLD KINGDOM from 2700 ends from civil war at Memphis, caused by increased power of provincial governors under Pepi-2.
1ST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD begins until 2040.
7th DYNASTY begins until 2173.  NETRIKARE is 1st king until ?.
8th DYNASTY begins until 2160
2475 BHoE 15, 598     2400 ISBE 1-251-2, RAI3 2280 RAH 59     2260 pic     2250 FLAP, GHAE, IDB 2-45, ISBE 2-517, WERE     2200 GHAE, IDB 2-39     2195 DMoN     2184 rcE, wikD6
2183 wikP     2181 JIAE, MRDK, Murn, Shaw, WPOT 37, britAE, ktut, phou, rcE, stnr, wik1int, wik22, wikAE, wikHAE, wikNS, wikOKE, wikP, wikPT, wohiOKE     2180 MCAW 19, TAWH 16, 58     2175 CBCOT     2160 B76 6-465, Shaw 83, WPOT     2150 PW 14, britAE, treg, wik21
c.2173 7th DYNASTY ends, possibly 9 kings from 2181.
8th DYNASTY continues 2181-60.  WADJKARE is 1st king until 2169,
2181 wik22, wik7th, wikHAE, 2173 JIAE, rcE
c.2169 WADJKARE, 1st king of 8th dyn from 2173, ends.  NEFERKAMIN succeeds until 2167. 2169 rcE
c.2167 NEFERKAMIN, 2nd king of 8th dyn from 2169, ends.  QAKARE-IBI succeeds until 2163, 2175 wikP, 2167 rcE
c.2163 QAKARE-IBI, 3rd king of 8th dyn from 2167, ends.  NEFERKARE-IV succeeds until 2162, 2171 wikP, 2163 rcE, 2107 wikPT
c.2162 NEFERKARE-IV, 4th king of 8th dyn from 2163, ends.  NEFERKAUHOR succeeds until 2161, 2163 wikP 2162 pic, rcE
c.2161 NEFERKARE-IV, 5th king of 8th dyn from 2162, ends.  NEFERIRKARE PEPI succeeds until 2160, 2213 pic
2161 rcE, wikP
by 2160 EGYPT, UNITED from 3100, DIVIDED until 2040.
Rulers in Herakleopolis control Lower Egypt, while the Intef family, a rival clan based in Thebes control Upper Egypt.
by 2160 wikAE
c.2160 NEFERIRKARE PEPI, 5th king of 8th dyn from 2161, overthrown by nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna.
8th DYNASTY ends, 8 or 9 kings from 2181.
9th DYNASTY begins until 2134.  Nomarch of Heracleopolis declares himself KETTI-I, king of Egypt until ?.
2445 BHoE     2213 pic
2160 DMoN, GHAE, JIAE, Shaw, WPOT 83, rcE, wik8th, wikHAE, wikP
2160 or 30 wik22
2135 treg     2130 britAE
c.2160 Capital of Egypt: MEMPHIS from 2700, split between Memphis and Heracleopolis until 2060. 2160 wikHAE
c.2150 Severe DROUGHT from 2200 ends. 2150 wikAE, wikOKE
c.2150 INTEF becomes nomarch of Thebes. 2150 wikInt
c.2134 9th DYNASTY at Heracleopolis from 2160 ousted, until 2130. 2160 DMoN, GHAE, frM     2134 ae, tig, wikHAE, wikP     2133 ISBE 2-194, MRDK, wikP
2130 JIAE, wikHAE     2125 Shaw, phou
2118 pic     2080 britAE, wikCEC
c.2133 Nomarch of Thebes INTEF-I SEHERTAWY (Mentuhotep-I?) organizes the south in rebellion from the 1st cataract to Thebes, becomes king of Thebes until 2117.  MENTUHOTEP-I (possibly Intef-1) founds 11th dynasty at Thebes, OR he may be a fictional character created by Mentuhotep-II.
11th DYNASTY begins until 1985.
2160 GHAE, frM 2135 wikMt1
2133 MRDK, bk 2130 wikP
2080 wikCEC
2055 treg
no date: BHoE 150
c.2133 MONTU, falcon headed Theban god of war, appears in Egyptian pantheon until replaced by Amun 1991.  Evidenced in the name, Mentuhotep.  Venerated mostly by 11th dyn.  His image is simply that of Ra plus feathers. art: Jeff Dahl

early MK: NLEM 29, wikMnt
c.2130 10th DYNASTY, in Lower Egypt, an extension of the 9th, ousted 2134, resumes at Heracleopolis until 2040. 2130 B76 6-468, JIAE, wik10th, wikHAE, wikP
c.2117 INTEF-I SEHERTAWY (aka Mentuhotep-I), king of Thebes from 2133, dies.  INTEF-II WAHANKH succeeds until 2069. 2123 DMoN, resh, 2123 or 2117 frM
2120 or 2070 wikInt1     2118 GHAE, ae, pic, tig 2117 Clay, GHAE, MRDK, wikP     2112 Shaw, phou, wikInt2     2074 wikCEC
no date: BHoE 150, GEoP 438
c.2100  Instructions for Merikare  A 1st Intermediate Period king, possibly Kheti, tells his son, future king Merykare how to be a good king.  The 1st (mostly destroyed) section is on quelling rebellion, the 2nd on how to treat subjects, 3rd on how to run the army and religious services, 4th describes the king's achievements and how to emulate them.  Next, quarry new stone, don't reuse old monuments. 2100 bk 2025-1700 wikTKM
c.2069 INTEF-II WAHANKH, king of Thebes from 2117, dies.  INTEF-III NAKHTNEBTEPNEFER succeeds until 2060. 2074 DMoN, resh     2074 or 2069 frM
2069 Clay, GHAE, MRDK, ae, pic, tig, wikP 2068 wikP     2064 wikCEC     2063 Shaw, phou, wikInt2     no date: BHoE 150, GEoP 438
c.2060 INTEF-III NAKHTNEBTEPNEFER, king of Thebes from 2069, dies.  MENTUHOTEP-II NEBHETEPRE succeeds until 2040 or 2010. 2066 DMoN, resh     2066 or 2060 frM
2061 GHAE, ae, pic     2060 B76 6-469, Clay, MCAW, MRDK, TAWH 58, tig, wikMt2, wikP, wikP     2055 Shaw, phou     2007 wikCEC
no date: BHoE 150, GEoP 120, 438
c.2050 Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeat the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands. 2050 wikAE
c. 2040 1st INTERMEDIATE PERIOD ends.  Began 2181.
10th DYNASTY ends. , possibly 18 kings at Heracleopolis from 2130, is conquered by MENTUHOTEP-II, rebel king at Thebes from 2060, thus becoming MENTUHOTEP-III of Egypt until 2010.
2161 ae     2160 BHoE 598, wikP     2055 Shaw, wik1int     2052 Sdl 1-23     2040 B76 6-469, BHoE, Clay, CVK, DMoN, FHBC 208, GEoP, GHAE, JIAE, MCAW, MRDK, WPOT 37, resh, wik1int, wik10th, wik21, wikHAE, wikP, wohiOKE 2014 or 2010 frM     2010 ae, tig, wikCEC, wikMt2     2004 phou     2000 ISBE 2-517, WERE     1991 wikAE
c. 2040 MIDDLE KINGDOM begins until 1786.
11th DYNASTY continues 2133-1991.
Egypt, DIVIDED from 2160, reunited until 1750.   Capital, split from 2160, THEBES until 1990.
2160 BHoE 16     2140 CBCOT, CVK, PW 14, TAWH 58, WPOT 37, bk     2134 wikAE 2134 or 1991 ISBE 1-252     2133 WPOT 2060 MCAW, wikP     2055 Shaw, phou, 2050 IDB 2-43     2040 GHAE, wohiOKE 2000 BHoE 156, IDB 2-43, SOTS 25, WERE     1989 FLAP 81

Egypt 2040-1786
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