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Home / Periods / Ancient World / Ancient Egypt

Period

Ancient Egypt

c. 3100–30 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.

Related people for Ancient Egypt

Ahhotep I1561 BCE–1531 BCE Ahmose-Nefertari1563 BCE–1496 BCE Ahmose I1561 BCE–1526 BCE Akhenatenc. 15th century BCE–1337 BCE Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmusc. 382–301 BCE Antiochus II Theos286–246 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Antipater of Sidonc. 3rd century BCE–c. 2nd century BCE Apepic. 17th century BCE–1541 BCE Arsinoe IV of Egyptc. 68/63–41 BCE Augustus64 BCE–14 Caesarion47–30 BCE Cassander356 BCE–297 BCE 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 Eurydice II of Macedon337 BCE–318 BCE Hattusili IIIc. 14th century BCE–c. 14th century BCE Herodotus485 BCE–426 BCE Herod the Great75 BCE–5 BCE Jacob1792 BCE–1645 BCE Judahborn 1567 BCE Julius Caesar101 BCE–45 BCE Kamosereigned c. 1555–1550 BCE Leah1732 BCE–1666 BCE Levi1567 BCE–1430 BCE Marcus Aemilius Lepidusc. 90–13 BCE Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa64 BCE–13 BCE Mark Antony83–30 BCE Mithridates VI of Pontus135 BCE–64 BCE Nefertari1291 BCE–1256 BCE Nefertitic. 1370–c. 1330 BCE Octavia the Youngerc. 69–11 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Pentawer1174 BCE–1156 BCE Perdiccas366 BCE–322 BCE Philip III of Macedon360 BCE–318 BCE Pompey106–48 BCE Ptolemy I Soter369/368–282 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 Tetisheric. 17th century BCE–c. 1540s BCE Tiyec. 12th century BCE–1156 BCE Tutankhamunc. 1341–c. 1323 BCE Xerxes I520 BCE–466 BCE

Series

Series about Ancient Egypt (1 series)

Egyptian Royals Collection in Order

by Michelle Moran 3 books 4.2(108,483)

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

30 Best Novels About Ancient Egypt

Non-Fiction

15 Best Non-Fiction Books About Ancient Egypt

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