As Egypt discover a 4400 year old tomb in Saqqara this last few weeks (November 2018) and named the buried person as the Royal purification priest "WAHTYE" from the reign of king NEFER-IR-KA-RE of the fifth dynasty between year 2500-2300 BC.
Uncovered tomb of Fifth Dynasty royal priest in Saqqara (Photo: Nevine El-Aref)
This discovery triggered my curiosity about the Egyptian dynasties (30 in total) and gave me an incentive to learn more about my ancestors, after having investigated this amazing history, I thought of sharing some results with you.
See below a simplified version summarizing this long history.
See below a simplified version summarizing this long history.
Original article by K. Kris Hirst
The dynastic Egypt chronology that we use to name and
classify the 2,700-year long list of royal pharaohs is based on myriad sources.
There are ancient history sources such as kings lists, annals, and other
documents translated into Greek and Latin, archaeological studies using
radiocarbon and dendrochronology, and hieroglyphic studies such as the Turin
Canon, the Palermo Stone, the Pyramid and Coffin Texts.
PYRAMIDS OF GIZA |
Manetho and His King's List
The primary source for the thirty established dynasties,
sequences of rulers united by kinship or their principal royal residence, is
the 3rd century B.C.E. Egyptian priest Manetho. His entire work included a
king-list and narratives, prophecies, and royal and non-royal biographies.
Written in Greek and called the Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt), Manetho's
complete text has not survived, but scholars have discovered copies of the
king's list and other pieces in narratives dated between the 3rd and 8th
centuries CE.
Some of those narratives were used by the Jewish historian
Josephus, who wrote his 1st century CE book Against Apion using borrowings,
summaries, paraphrases, and recapitulations of Manetho, with specific emphasis
on the Second Intermediate Hyksos
rulers. Other fragments are found in the writings of Africanus and Eusebius.
Many other documents pertaining to the royal dynasties had
to wait until Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone were translated by
Jean-Francois Champollion in the early 19th century. Later in the century,
historians imposed the now-familiar Old-Middle-New Kingdom structure onto
Manethos' king list. The Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were periods when upper
and lower parts of the Nile Valley were united; the Intermediate periods were
when the union fell apart. Recent studies continue to find a more nuanced
structure than that suggested by Manetho or the 19th-century historians.
Egypt Before the
Pharaohs
From the Brooklyn
Museum's Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, this female figurine dates to the Naqada
II period of the Predynastic period, 3500-3400 BC. ego.technique
There were people in Egypt long before the pharaohs, and
cultural elements of the previous periods prove that the rise of dynastic Egypt
was a local evolution.
• Paleolithic Period c. 700,000-7000 B.C.E.
• Neolithic
Period c. 8800-4700 B.C.E.
• Predynastic
Period c. 5300-3000 B.C.E.
Settlements were established beside the Nile River by Merimdeon, Tasian and Badarian. Hieroglyphs made their first appearance around the end of this period.
Early Dynastic Egypt
- Dynasties 0-2, 3200-2686 B.C.E.
A procession of the early dynastic
Pharaoh Narmer is illustrated on this facsimile of the famous Narmer Palette,
found at Hierakonpolis. Keith Schengili-Roberts
Dynasty 0 [3200-3000 B.C.E.] is what Egyptologists call a
group of Egyptian rulers who are not on Manetho's list, definitely predate the
traditional original founder of dynastic Egypt Narmer, and were found buried in
a cemetery at Abydos in the 1980s. These rulers were identified as pharaohs by
the presence of the nesu-bit title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt"
next to their names. The earliest of these rulers is Den (c. 2900 B.C.E.) and
the last is Scorpion II, known as the "Scorpion King". The 5th
century B.C.E. Palermo stone also lists these rulers.
Early Dynastic Period [Dynasties 1-2, ca. 3000-2686 B.C.E.].
By about 3000 B.C.E., the Early Dynastic state had emerged in Egypt, and its
rulers controlled the Nile valley from the delta to the first cataract at Aswan.
The capital of this 1000 km (620 mi) stretch of the river was probably at
Hierakonpolis or possibly Abydos where the rulers were buried. The first ruler
was Menes or Narmer, ca. 3100 B.C.E. The administrative structures and royal
tombs were built almost entirely of sun-dried mud brick, wood, and reeds, and
so little remains of them.
Rulers of the First Dynasty:
Narmer (Menes), Aha, Djer, Djet, Den, Anedjib, Semerkhe and Qaa
Rulers of the Second Dynasty:
Hotepsekhemwy, Raneb, Ninetjer, Seth-Peribsen, Khasekhemwy
The Old Kingdom -
Dynasties 3-8, ca. 2686-2160 B.C.E.
The Old Kingdom is the name designated by 19th-century
historians to refer to the first period reported by Manetho when both the north
(Lower) and south (Upper) parts of the Nile Valley were united under one ruler.
It is also known as the Pyramid Age, for more than a dozen pyramids were built
at Giza and Saqqara. The first pharaoh of the old kingdom was Djoser (3rd
dynasty, 2667-2648 B.C.E.), who built the first monumental stone structure,
called the Step Pyramid.
The administrative heart of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis,
where a vizier ran the central government administration. Local governors
accomplished those tasks in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Old Kingdom was a long
period of economic prosperity and political stability that included long
distance trade with the Levant and Nubia. Beginning in the 6th dynasty,
however, the central government's power began to erode with Pepys II long
93-year reign.
Dynasty III (2686 - 2575 BC):
Rulers of the Third Dynasty: Sanakhte, (2686 - 2668 BC), Zoser aka Djoser (2668 - 2649 BC), Sekhemkhet (2649 - 2643 BC), Khaba (2643 - 2637 BC), Huni (2637 - 2613 BC).
Dynasty IV (2613 - 2498 BC):
Rulers of the Fourth Dynasty: Sneferu (2613 - 2589 ), Khufu aka Cheops (2589 - 2566 BC), Radjedef (2566 - 2558 BC), Khafre aka Cheophren (2558 - 2532 BC), Menkaru aka Mycerinus (2532 - 2504 BC) and Shepseskaf (2504 - 2500 BC).
Dynasty V (2465 - 2323 BC):
Rulers of the Fifth Dynasty: Userkef (2498 - 2491 BC), Sahure (2491 - 2477 BC), Neferirkare Kakai (2477 - 2467 BC). Shepseskare Ini (2467 - 2460 BC), Raneferef (2460 - 2453 BC), Neuserre Izi (2453 - 2422BC), Menkauhor (2422 - 2414 BC), Djedkare Isesi (2414 - 2375 BC) and Unas (2375 - 2345 BC).
Dynasty VI (2345 - 2181 BC):
Rulers of the Sixth Dynasty: Teti (2345 - 2333 BC), Pepi I (2332 - 2283 BC), Merenre (2283 - 2278 BC) and Pepi II (2278 - 2184 BC).
Rulers of the Third Dynasty: Sanakhte, (2686 - 2668 BC), Zoser aka Djoser (2668 - 2649 BC), Sekhemkhet (2649 - 2643 BC), Khaba (2643 - 2637 BC), Huni (2637 - 2613 BC).
Dynasty IV (2613 - 2498 BC):
Rulers of the Fourth Dynasty: Sneferu (2613 - 2589 ), Khufu aka Cheops (2589 - 2566 BC), Radjedef (2566 - 2558 BC), Khafre aka Cheophren (2558 - 2532 BC), Menkaru aka Mycerinus (2532 - 2504 BC) and Shepseskaf (2504 - 2500 BC).
Dynasty V (2465 - 2323 BC):
Rulers of the Fifth Dynasty: Userkef (2498 - 2491 BC), Sahure (2491 - 2477 BC), Neferirkare Kakai (2477 - 2467 BC). Shepseskare Ini (2467 - 2460 BC), Raneferef (2460 - 2453 BC), Neuserre Izi (2453 - 2422BC), Menkauhor (2422 - 2414 BC), Djedkare Isesi (2414 - 2375 BC) and Unas (2375 - 2345 BC).
Dynasty VI (2345 - 2181 BC):
Rulers of the Sixth Dynasty: Teti (2345 - 2333 BC), Pepi I (2332 - 2283 BC), Merenre (2283 - 2278 BC) and Pepi II (2278 - 2184 BC).
First Intermediate Period - Dynasties 9-mid 11, ca.
2160-2055 B.C.E.
First Intermediate Frieze from the Tomb
of Mereri, 9th Dynasty Egypt.
By the beginning of the First Intermediate Period, the power
base of Egypt had shifted to Herakleopolis located 100 km (62 mi) upstream from
Memphis.
The large-scale building came to a halt and the provinces
were ruled locally. Ultimately the central government collapsed and foreign
trade stopped. The country was fragmented and unstable, with civil war and
cannibalism driven by famine, and the redistribution of wealth. Texts from this
period include the Coffin Texts, which were inscribed on elite coffins in
multiple roomed burials.
A period about which little is known. Foreign occupation and continued internal struggle were common and rulers did not last very long.. Invaders known as the Hyksos came in 1730 BC from Asia and moved into the Delta. This period of instability lasted from 1730 to 1580 BC and was brought to an end by a Theban family, one of whom (Ahmose) finally expelled the Hyksos to start the 18th Dynasty and the rise of the New Kingdom era.
A period about which little is known. Foreign occupation and continued internal struggle were common and rulers did not last very long.. Invaders known as the Hyksos came in 1730 BC from Asia and moved into the Delta. This period of instability lasted from 1730 to 1580 BC and was brought to an end by a Theban family, one of whom (Ahmose) finally expelled the Hyksos to start the 18th Dynasty and the rise of the New Kingdom era.
Middle Kingdom -
Dynasties mid-11-14, 2055-1650 B.C.E.
Middle Kingdom coffin of Khnumankht, an
unknown person from Khashaba in the early 20th century B.C.E. The Metropolitan
Museum, Rogers Fund, 1915
The Middle Kingdom began with the victory of Mentuhotep II
of Thebes over his rivals at Herakleopolis, and the reunification of Egypt.
Monumental building construction resumed with Bab el-Hosan, a pyramid complex
which followed Old Kingdom traditions, but had a mud-brick core with a grid of
stone walls and finished with limestone casing blocks. This complex has not
survived well.
By the 12th dynasty, the capital moved to Amemenhet
Itj-tawj, which has not been found but was likely close to the Fayyum Oasis. The
central administration had a vizier at the top, a treasury, and ministries for
harvesting and crop management; cattle and fields; and labor for building
programs. The king was still the divine absolute ruler but the government was
based on a representative theocracy rather than direct rules.
The Middle Kingdom pharaohs conquered Nubia, conducted raids
into the Levant, and brought back Asiatics as slaves, who eventually
established themselves as a power block in the delta region and threatened the
empire.
Second Intermediate
Period - Dynasties 15-17, 1650-1550 B.C.E.
Second Intermediate Period Egypt,
Headband from the Eastern Delta, 15th Dynasty 1648-1540 B.C.E. The Metropolitan
Museum, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1968
During the Second Intermediate Period, the dynastic
stability ended, the central government collapsed, and dozens of kings from
different lineages reigned in quick succession. Some of the rulers were from
the Asiatic colonies in the Delta region—the Hyksos.
The royal mortuary cults stopped but contacts with the
Levant were maintained and more Asiatics came into Egypt. The Hyksos conquered
Memphis and built their royal residence at Avaris (Tell el-Daba) in the eastern
delta. The city of Avaris was enormous, with a huge citadel with vineyards and
gardens. The Hyksos allied with Kushite Nubia and established extensive trade
with the Aegean and Levant.
The 17th dynasty Egyptian rulers at Thebes started a
"war of liberation" against the Hyksos, and eventually, the Thebans
overthrew Hyksos, ushering in what 19th-century scholars called the New
Kingdom.
New Kingdom -
Dynasties 18-24, 1550-1069 B.C.E.
DEIR EL BARHI |
The first New Kingdom ruler was Ahmose (1550-1525 B.C.E.) who
drove the Hyksos out of Egypt, and established many internal reforms and
political restructuring. The 18th dynasty rulers, especially Thutmosis III,
conducted dozens of military campaigns in the Levant. Trade was reestablished
between the Sinai peninsula and the Mediterranean, and the southern border was
extended as far south as Gebel Barkal.
Egypt became prosperous and wealthy, especially under
Amenophis III (1390-1352 B.C.E.), but turmoil arose when his son Akhenaten
(1352-1336 B.C.E.) left Thebes, moved the capital to Akhetaten (Tell
el-Amarna), and radically reformed the religion to the monotheistic Aten cult.
It didn't last long. The first attempts to restore the old religion began as
early as the rule of Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun (1336-1327 B.C.E.), and
eventually persecution of the practitioners of the Aten cult proved successful
and the old religion was re-established.
Civil officials were replaced by military personnel, and the
army became the most influential domestic power in the country. At the same
time, the Hittites from Mesopotamia became imperialistic and threatened Egypt.
At the Battle of Qadesh, Ramses II met the Hittite troops under Muwatalli, but
it ended in a stalemate, with a peace treaty.
By the end of the 13th century B.C.E., a new danger had
arisen from the so-called Sea Peoples. First Merneptah (1213-1203 B.C.E.) then
Ramses III (1184-1153 B.C.E.), fought and won important battles with the Sea
Peoples. By the end of the New Kingdom, however, Egypt was forced to withdraw
from the Levant.
Dynasty XVIII (1570 - 1293 BC):
Rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty: Ahmose I (1570 - 1546 BC), Amenhotep I (1551 - 1524 BC),Tuthmosis I (1524 - 1518 BC), Tuthmosis II (1528 - 1504 BC), Queen Hatshepsut (1498 - 1483 BC) Tuthmosis III (1504 - 1450 BC), Amenhotep II (1453 - 1419 BC), Tuthmosis IV (1419 - 1386 BC), Amenhotep III (1386 - 1349 BC), Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) (1350 - 1334 BC), Smenkhkare (1336 -1334 BC), Tutankhamun (1334 -1325 BC) Ay (1325 - 1321 BC) and Horemheb (1321 - 1293 BC).
Dynasty XIX (1293 - 1185 BC):
Rulers of the Nineteenth Dynasty: Ramesses I (1291 - 1291 BC), Seti I (1291 1278 BC), Ramesses II (1279 - 1212 BC), Merneptah (1212 - 1202 BC), Amenmesses (1202 - 1199 BC), Seti II (1199 - 1193 BC), Siptah (1193 - 1187 BC) and Queen Twosret (1187 - 1185 BC).
Dynasty XX (1185 - 1070 BC):
Rulers of the Twentieth Dynasty: Setnakhte (1185 - 1182 BC), Ramesses III (1182 - 1151 BC), Ramesses IV (1151 - 1145 BC), Ramesses V (1145 - 1141 BC), Ramesses VI (1141 - 1133 BC), Ramesses VII (1133 - 1126 BC), Ramesses VIII (1133 - 1126 BC), Ramesses IX (1126 - 1108 BC), Ramesses X (1108 - 1098 BC) and Ramesses IV (1098 - 1070 BC).
Dynasty XVIII (1570 - 1293 BC):
Rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty: Ahmose I (1570 - 1546 BC), Amenhotep I (1551 - 1524 BC),Tuthmosis I (1524 - 1518 BC), Tuthmosis II (1528 - 1504 BC), Queen Hatshepsut (1498 - 1483 BC) Tuthmosis III (1504 - 1450 BC), Amenhotep II (1453 - 1419 BC), Tuthmosis IV (1419 - 1386 BC), Amenhotep III (1386 - 1349 BC), Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) (1350 - 1334 BC), Smenkhkare (1336 -1334 BC), Tutankhamun (1334 -1325 BC) Ay (1325 - 1321 BC) and Horemheb (1321 - 1293 BC).
Dynasty XIX (1293 - 1185 BC):
Rulers of the Nineteenth Dynasty: Ramesses I (1291 - 1291 BC), Seti I (1291 1278 BC), Ramesses II (1279 - 1212 BC), Merneptah (1212 - 1202 BC), Amenmesses (1202 - 1199 BC), Seti II (1199 - 1193 BC), Siptah (1193 - 1187 BC) and Queen Twosret (1187 - 1185 BC).
Dynasty XX (1185 - 1070 BC):
Rulers of the Twentieth Dynasty: Setnakhte (1185 - 1182 BC), Ramesses III (1182 - 1151 BC), Ramesses IV (1151 - 1145 BC), Ramesses V (1145 - 1141 BC), Ramesses VI (1141 - 1133 BC), Ramesses VII (1133 - 1126 BC), Ramesses VIII (1133 - 1126 BC), Ramesses IX (1126 - 1108 BC), Ramesses X (1108 - 1098 BC) and Ramesses IV (1098 - 1070 BC).
Third Intermediate
Period - Dynasties 21-25, ca. 1069-664 B.C.E.
The Third Intermediate Period began with a major political
upheaval, a civil war fomented by the Kushite viceroy Panehsy. Military action
failed to reestablish control over Nubia, and when the last Ramessid king died
in 1069 B.C.E., a new power structure was in control of the country.
Although at the surface the country was united, in reality,
the north was ruled from Tanis (or perhaps Memphis) in the Nile Delta, and
lower Egypt was ruled from Thebes. A formal frontier between the regions was
established at Teudjoi, the entrance to the Fayyum Oasis.
The central
government at Thebes was essentially a theocracy, with supreme political
authority resting with the god Amun.
Beginning in the 9th century B.C.E., numerous local rulers
became virtually autonomous, and several declared themselves kings. Libyans
from Cyrenaica took a dominant role, becoming kings by the second half of the
21st dynasty. Kushite rule over Egypt was established by the 25th dynasty
[747-664 B.C.E.)
Late Period -
Dynasties 26-31, 664-332 B.C.E.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT |
The Late Period in Egypt lasted between 343-332 B.C.E., a
time when Egypt became a Persian satrapy. The country was reunified by Psamtek
I (664-610 B.C.E.), in part because the Assyrians had weakened in their own
country and could not maintain their control in Egypt. He and subsequent
leaders used mercenaries from Greek, Carian, Jewish, Phoenician, and possibly
Bedouin groups, that were there to guarantee Egypt's security from the
Assyrians, Persians, and Chaldeans.
Egypt was invaded by the Persians in 525 B.C.E., and the
first Persian ruler was Cambyses. A revolt broke out after he died, but Darius
the Great was able to regain control by 518 B.C.E.and Egypt remained a Persian
satrapy until 404 B.C.E.when a brief period of independence lasted until 342
B.C.E. Egypt fell under Persian rule again, that was only ended by the arrival
of Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.E.
Ptolemaic Period -
332-30 B.C.E.
The Ptolemaic period began with the arrival of Alexander the
Great, who conquered Egypt and was crowned king in 332 B.C.E., but he left
Egypt to conquer new lands. After he died in 323 B.C.E., sections of his great
empire were parcelled out to various members of his military staff, and
Ptolemy, the son of Alexander's marshall Lagos, acquired Egypt, Libya, and
parts of Arabia. Between 301-280 B.C.E., a War of Successors broke out between
the various marshalls of Alexander's conquered lands.
At the end of that, the Ptolemaic dynasties were firmly
established and ruled over Egypt until the Roman conquest by Julius Caesar in
30 B.C.E..
Post-Dynastic Egypt -
30 B.C.E.-641 C.E.
Roman Period Footcase of a Mummy with
Images of Defeated Enemies Under the Feet, part of the Brooklyn Museum's
exhibition of Egytpian artifacts called To Live Forever, February 12-May 2,
2010. © Brooklyn Museum
After the Ptolemaic period, Egypt's long religious and
political structure ended. But the Egyptian legacy of massive monuments and a
lively written history continues to fascinate us today.
• Roman
Period 30 B.C.E.-395 C.E.
• Coptic
period in the 3rd C.E.
• Egypt ruled from Byzantium 395-641 C.E.
• Arab Conquest of Egypt 641 C.E.
This article in it's entirety is to be found in "ThoughtCo" Lifelong learning magazine, some additions of dates and names are from my research.