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Historical Bookshelf
Home / Historical Periods / Ancient World / Ancient Egypt

Period

Ancient Egypt

c. 2,200–30 BCE

Ancient Egypt developed along the Nile and lasted for more than three thousand years under changing dynasties, kingdoms and foreign rulers. It is associated with pharaohs, pyramids, temples, tombs, scribes, priests, soldiers, farmers and the religious imagination of the afterlife. Its history moves from early kingship through the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms to Late, Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt.

Egypt matters because it was one of the longest-lasting and most visually recognisable ancient civilisations. Its power depended on the Nile, royal ideology, monumental building, religious authority and periods of military expansion or foreign rule. The tension between continuity and disruption gives Egyptian history its distinctive shape.

Ancient Egypt has a strong body of historical fiction, including Christian Jacq’s Ramses novels, Pauline Gedge’s Egyptian books, Wilbur Smith’s River God sequence, Michelle Moran’s Nefertiti and Cleopatra’s Daughter, and Mika Waltari’s The Egyptian. The setting supports palace intrigue, priestly power, dynastic rivalry, tomb-building, warfare, romance, slavery and stories of cultural survival under foreign rule. It is one of the most useful non-Roman ancient categories for a historical books site.

Related people for Ancient Egypt

Ahhotep I1561 BCE–1531 BCE Ahmose-Nefertari1563 BCE–1496 BCE Ahmose I1561 BCE–1526 BCE Akhenaten Akhenatenc. 15th century BCE–1337 BCE Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmus383 BCE–302 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Antipater of Sidonc. 3rd century BCE–c. 2nd century BCE Apepic. 17th century BCE–1541 BCE Arsinoe IV of Egypt69 BCE–42 BCE Augustus64 BCE–14 Bilhah Boudica30–61 Caesarion48 BCE–31 BCE Cassander356 BCE–297 BCE Catherine the Great1729-1796 Cicero107 BCE–44 BCE Cleopatra70 BCE–31 BCE Cleopatra Selene II41 BCE–6 BCE Clodiaborn 96 BCE Darius Ic. 550–486 BCE Dinah1701 BCE–1591 BCE Elizabeth I1533–1603 Eurydice II of Macedon337 BCE–318 BCE George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon1866–1923 Hattusili IIIc. 14th century BCE–c. 14th century BCE Herodotus485 BCE–426 BCE Herod the Great75 BCE–5 BCE Howard Carter1874–1939 Jacob1792 BCE–1645 BCE Joan of Arc1412–1431 Joseph1563 BCE–1453 BCE Judahborn 1567 BCE Julius Caesar101 BCE–45 BCE Justinian Ic. 483–565 Kamosec. 17th century BCE–1550 BCE Laban Leah1732 BCE–1666 BCE Levi1567 BCE–1430 BCE Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa64 BCE–13 BCE Margaret Thatcher1925–2013 Mark Antony83–30 BCE Mithridates VI of Pontus135 BCE–64 BCE Nefertari1291 BCE–1256 BCE Nefertitic. 1370–c. 1330 BCE Octavia the Younger67 BCE–12 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Pentawer1174 BCE–1156 BCE Perdiccas366 BCE–322 BCE Philip III of Macedon360 BCE–318 BCE Piyec. 9th century BCE–717 BCE Pompey106–48 BCE Ptolemy I Soterc. 360s BCE–c. 280s BCE Ptolemy IX Lathyros143 BCE–82 BCE Ptolemy X Alexander I141 BCE–89 BCE Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator63 BCE–48 BCE Publius Clodius Pulcherc. 90s BCE–53 BCE Rachel1730 BCE–1686 BCE Ramesses II1304 BCE–1214 BCE Ramesses III1218 BCE–1156 BCE Ramesses IVc. 13th century BCE–1157 BCE Reuben1670 BCE–1446 BCE Roxana348 BCE–311 BCE Senusret IIIc. 20th century BCE–1843 BCE Seqenenre Taoc. 1590s BCE–1555 BCE Seti I1324 BCE–1280 BCE Simeon1669 BCE–c. 21st century BCE Tiyec. 12th century BCE–1156 BCE Tutankhamunc. 1341–c. 1323 BCE Xerxes I520 BCE–466 BCE Zilpah

Series

Series about Ancient Egypt (1 series)

Egyptian Royals Collection in Order

by Michelle Moran 3 books 4.2

Michelle Moran’s Egyptian Royals Collection follows three royal women whose lives are reshaped by dynastic rupture and imperial power. Nefertiti rises beside Akhenaten during the Amarna religious revolution; Nefertari struggles to overcome that discredited legacy at the court of Ramesses II; and Cleopatra Selene is carried to Rome…

Books

Books about Ancient Egypt (30 books)

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.

Non Fiction

Non Fiction about Ancient Egypt (5 books)

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.